Tuesday’s NBA Cup rundown: 11 games, five quarterfinal spots to be decided.
Group play in the tournament ends Tuesday night, when five more teams will join Houston, Golden State and Atlanta in the NBA Cup quarterfinals. And there are 13 teams still in the running for those last five spots in the quarters.
Quarterfinal games will be Dec. 10 and Dec. 11. Winners of the quarterfinal games head to Las Vegas for the semifinals on Dec. 14.
All games in the tournament — except for the Dec. 17 championship game — count in the regular-season standings and statistics. The championship game is considered extra and isn’t part of the 82-game season for the two teams that make the final.
The NBA Cup was called the In-Season Tournament last year when it debuted, after years and years of Commissioner Adam Silver wanting to add something extra to the regular season.
How to watch
TNT will have a doubleheader on Tuesday: Memphis-Dallas and Golden State-Denver.
There will be a quarterfinal doubleheader on TNT on Dec. 10. On Dec. 11, one quarterfinal game will be on ESPN followed by another on TNT.
TNT will show the first Cup semifinal from Las Vegas on Dec. 14 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, followed by the second semifinal at 8:30 p.m. on ABC. The championship game is an 8:30 p.m. Eastern airing Dec. 17 on ABC.
Local broadcasts will also be available when NBA rules permit, as usual.
Betting favorites
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, New York and Golden State are the co-favorites to win the NBA Cup at +500 apiece. Oklahoma City (+550) is the third choice, followed closely by Milwaukee and Houston (both +650), then Dallas and Orlando (both +800).
Standings and schedule
A breakdown of the groups and the standings:
East Group A — Orlando 3-0, New York 3-0, Philadelphia 1-2, Brooklyn 1-3, Charlotte 0-3.
Outlook: The Orlando-New York game decides the group title and a quarterfinal berth, and the loser of that game (especially if it’s the Magic, provided they don’t lose by more than 37 points) still could be the wild-card qualifier from the East. Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Charlotte are eliminated.
Schedule: New York 111, Philadelphia 99;Orlando 114, Charlotte 89;New York 124, Brooklyn 122;Orlando 98, Philadelphia 86;Brooklyn 116, Charlotte 115;Philadelphia 113, Brooklyn 98;New York 99, Charlotte 98;Orlando 123, Brooklyn 100; Philadelphia at Charlotte, Tuesday; Orlando at New York, Tuesday.
East Group B — Milwaukee 3-0, Detroit 3-0, Miami 2-2, Toronto 0-3, Indiana 0-3.
Outlook: The Pistons, who lost 28 straight games last season, play host to a Cup group-title-deciding game on Tuesday against the Bucks. Miami, Toronto and Indiana are eliminated.
Schedule: Detroit 123, Miami 121;Milwaukee 99, Toronto 85;Miami 124, Indiana 111;Detroit 99, Toronto 95;Milwaukee 129, Indiana 117;Milwaukee 106, Miami 103;Miami 121, Toronto 111;Detroit 130, Indiana 106; Milwaukee at Detroit, Tuesday; Indiana at Toronto, Tuesday.
East Group C — Atlanta 3-1, Boston 3-1, Chicago 2-2, Cleveland 1-2, Washington 0-3.
Outlook: Atlanta has won the group. Boston can still be the East’s wild-card qualifier but needs a lot of help. Chicago, Cleveland and Washington are eliminated.
Schedule: Atlanta 117, Boston 116; Cleveland 144, Chicago 126;Atlanta 129, Washington 117;Boston 120, Cleveland 117;Chicago 136, Atlanta 122;Boston 108, Washington 96;Chicago 127, Washington 108;Boston 138, Chicago 129;Atlanta 117, Cleveland 101; Washington at Cleveland, Tuesday.
West Group A — Houston 3-0, Portland 2-1, Minnesota 2-2, Los Angeles Clippers 1-2, Sacramento 0-3.
Outlook: Houston has won the group. Minnesota and Sacramento are eliminated. Portland and the Clippers can still be wild cards; the Clippers would also need losses by Dallas and Oklahoma City plus a ton of point-differential tiebreakers to go their way in order to advance. Portland has multiple advancing scenarios; the easiest one is the Blazers win, Thunder lose and Mavericks lose.
Schedule: Portland 106, Minnesota 98;Minnesota 130, Sacramento 126;Houston 125, LA Clippers 104;LA Clippers 104, Sacramento 88;Houston 116, Portland 88;Houston 117, Minnesota 111;Minnesota 93, LA Clippers 92;Portland 115, Sacramento 106; Houston at Sacramento, Tuesday; Portland at LA Clippers, Tuesday.
West Group B — San Antonio 2-1, Oklahoma City 2-1, Phoenix 2-1, Los Angeles Lakers 2-2, Utah 0-3.
Outlook: San Antonio controls its fate — the Spurs win the group by beating the Suns. The Spurs, Thunder and Suns all still have a shot at the group title and quarterfinal berth; one of those teams may grab the West’s wild-card spot. The Suns would win the group with a win and a Thunder loss. The Lakers won’t advance after going 7-0 and winning the inaugural Cup last season, and Utah also is eliminated.
Schedule: Phoenix 120, Utah 112;LA Lakers 120, San Antonio 115;Oklahoma City 99, Phoenix 83;San Antonio 110, Oklahoma City 104;LA Lakers 124, Utah 118;Phoenix 127, LA Lakers 100;San Antonio 128, Utah 115;Oklahoma City 101, LA Lakers 93; Utah at Oklahoma City, Tuesday; San Antonio at Phoenix, Tuesday.
West Group C — Golden State 3-0, Dallas 2-1, Denver 1-2, Memphis 1-2, New Orleans 0-3.
Outlook: Golden State has won the group. Dallas could be a quarterfinalist with a win Tuesday. Denver and Memphis are still mathematically in the wild-card hunt and New Orleans has been eliminated.
Schedule: Golden State 120, Dallas 117;New Orleans 101, Denver 94;Golden State 123, Memphis 118;Denver 122, Memphis 110;Dallas 132, New Orleans 91;Dallas 123, Denver 120;Golden State 112, New Orleans 108;Memphis 120, New Orleans 109; Memphis at Dallas, Tuesday; Golden State at Denver, Tuesday.
Highest scoring performances
The best single-game scoring efforts in the NBA Cup this season.
60 — De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento vs. Minnesota, Nov. 15
43 — Cam Thomas, Brooklyn at New York, Nov. 15
40 — Tyler Herro, Miami at Detroit, Nov. 12
40 — Anthony Davis, LA Lakers at San Antonio, Nov. 15
More triple-doubles
There were four triple-doubles in NBA Cup games last season (Domantas Sabonis had two, Nikola Jokic had one and Tyrese Haliburton had one). There have been 11 already in Cup games this season (Alperen Sengun has two, while Jokic, Sabonis, Bam Adebayo, Scottie Barnes, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Jalen Johnson and Josh Hart all have one).
What’s at stake?
To the winners: pride, a trophy and money.
Players on the winning team will claim $514,971 each, while $205,988 goes to each player on the runner-up team, $102,994 to players whose teams lost in the semifinals and $51,497 to those players whose teams lost in the quarterfinals.
What to know
If teams get eliminated in group play, they’ll have two more games added to their schedule; those games will be scheduled soon and begin getting played next week. If teams get eliminated in the quarterfinals, they’ll have one more game added.
All teams have only 80 games scheduled so far in the regular season but will play 82. That’s why the title game doesn’t count; it would be an 83rd game for those teams (the 80 games that are already scheduled, then the quarterfinal, then the semifinal will be their 82 games).
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