NBA Cup rules, format & tiebreakers: complete guide
By Mat Issa
This week is a special one in the NBA regular season in that it marks the start of the Emirates NBA Cup, or as it was formerly known: the In-Season Tournament.
In anticipation of this event, here is everything you need to know about the NBA Cup.
NBA Cup Format: Structure and Stages Explained
There are two stages in the NBA Cup: Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.
Group Play
Each team has been randomly sorted into a group consisting of five teams that all share the same conference. Between Tuesday, November 12, and Tuesday, December 3, each team plays four games on "Cup Nights" (which are either played on Tuesday or Friday) against the four other teams in their group.
From there, the team with the best record in each group will advance to the knockout stage. There are also two wildcard spots (one from each conference). These spots go to the second place team with the best record in their conference.
Knockout Rounds
If you do the math, you will notice that eight teams from the original 30 advance from the Group Play stage to the Knockout Rounds. From there, we get the bracket style that many fans of basketball are accustomed to.
In the quarterfinals, the team with the best record from their conference (the #1 seed) will host the wild card team (#4 seed). The team with the second-best record in their conference (the #2 seed) will host the team with the third-best record (the #3 seed). The winners of those two games will play each other in the semifinals, and the winner of that will play the winner of the other side of the bracket in the NBA Cup Championship.
The quarterfinals and semifinals games will count toward each team's regular season record/stats. However, the NBA Cup Championship does not count toward either of those totals.
Tiebreaker Rules: Resolving Standings and Match Ties
Okay, so what happens in the Group Play stage if two teams from a group have the same record? Or what happens for seeding purposes in the Knockout Rounds if two teams have the same record?
All ties have the same protocol in the NBA Cup tournament. Here is the order. First, they will look at the team's head-to-head record in group play. Then, they will look at their point differential in Group Play (if a game goes to overtime, the two teams involved in the game will get a "0" point differential for that game). If that doesn't work, they will look at total points scored in Group Play by each team (points scored in overtime don't count). After that, they would look at their regular season record from 2023-24. And if all that doesn't work (highly unlikely), there will be a random drawing.
Prizes and Awards
There will be a prize pool that is allocated to all the players whose teams participated in the Knockout Rounds. The further the player's team advanced into the Knockout Rounds, the higher their piece of the pie.
As for awards, at the end of the NBA Cup, a media panel will select the Most Valuable Player of the competition and the All-Tournament Team. Selection will be based on the players’ performance in both Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.
Sacramento Kings Group Play Schedule
For the Kings, their NBA Cup run begins this Friday, November 15. Then, they will play the Minnesota Timberwolves – the team that spoiled DeMar DeRozan's Kings debut. From there, they face the Los Angeles Clippers (Friday, November 22), the Portland Trail Blazers (Friday, November 29), and the Houston Rockets (Tuesday, December 3).
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