NBA Cup schedule: Klay Thompson visiting Warriors, LeBron James vs. Victor Wembanyama highlight opening night

Sean Leahy
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 9: Los Angeles Lakers win inaugural NBA Cup after NBA In-Season Tournament Finals game between Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on December 9, 2023. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural NBA Cup over the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 9, 2023. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images) (Anadolu via Getty Images)

The NBA Cup will begin its second year as the league's in-season tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 12, and will feature a handful of interesting matchups right away.

Opening night will see the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks play in a rematch of their 2024 first-round playoff series. Later that evening, Klay Thompson will return to Golden State to face his old team as the Dallas Mavericks take on the Warriors.

The second night of games on Nov. 15 will see LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama, who just faced off in the Olympic gold medal game, meet when the inaugural NBA Cup champion Los Angeles Lakers visit the San Antonio Spurs.

You can check out the full group schedule here.

Here are the six groups for the 2024 NBA Cup:

  • East Group A: New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets

  • East Group B: Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons

  • East Group C: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards

  • West Group A: Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers

  • West Group B: Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs

  • West Group C: Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies

For the tournament, all 30 NBA teams were drawn into groups of five within their conference and based on their 2023-24 regular-season records. Each team plays one game against the other four opponents in its group.

Group play for the 2024 NBA Cup will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays from Nov. 12 - Dec. 3. There will be no regular-season games played on those nights — only those that are part of the tournament.

The Tuesday "Cup Nights" are scheduled for Nov. 12, 19, 26 and Dec. 3, and the Fridays on Nov. 15, 22 and 29.

The eight teams that emerge from group play (winners of each group, along with a wild-card team in each conference) will match up in single-elimination knockout rounds on Dec. 10-11 before advancing to the semifinals (Dec. 14) and championship game (Dec. 17) held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The 22 teams that do not qualify for the knockout round quarterfinals will have two regular-season games added to their schedules, played on Dec. 12-13 and Dec. 15-16. Losing teams from the quarterfinals will be matched up in regular-season games on Dec. 12-16.

The NBA Cup champions and second-place club split money from a prize pool. Each player from the winning team received $500,000, while the runners-up each got $200,000.

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