NBA releases groups for this season's NBA Cup

The NBA announced the groups for the upcoming NBA Cup tournament, which begins October 31st. Defending champion Milwaukee Bucks will play in East Group C against the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets, and Miami Heat during the group stage, which runs through November 28th.

The tournament playoffs feature quarterfinals on December 9th and 10th, followed by semifinals in Las Vegas on December 13th. The championship game will also be held in Las Vegas on December 16th. Notably, the championship game does not count towards the regular season record or statistics for the participating teams.

During the group stage, each team will play two home and two away games. Teams failing to reach the quarterfinals or semifinals will have two extra games added to their schedule against other non-qualifying teams to ensure they play a full 82-game season. Quarterfinal and semifinal games will count towards the regular season records of the teams involved.

The league will release the full tournament schedules in August, alongside the rest of the 2025-26 NBA season schedule.

The complete groups are:
East Group A: Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards.
East Group B: Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers.
East Group C: Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets.
West Group A: Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz.
West Group B: Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans.
West Group C: Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs.