NBA Cup Rules, Format, & Tiebreakers: A Complete Guide to the League's Mid-Season Tournament

The NBA's mid-season tournament begins on Halloween night.

James hoists the NBA Cup for the Lakers in 2023. / Candice Ward-Imagn Images

The Emirates NBA Cup is upon us. The Association's third-annual in-season tournament kicks off this week, starting with a full slate of Group Stage games tipping off on Friday, October 31.

Confused? We've got you covered. Here's a complete guide to the 2025 NBA Cup:

What Is It?

The NBA launched its in-season tournament in 2023 with the idea of breeding competition throughout the regular season and creating a new tradition. The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural tournament, and the Milwaukee Bucks are the reigning champions from last year.

Group Play

All 30 NBA teams have been split into six groups—three in the Eastern Conference and three in the Western Conference. The groups were randomly drawn this past summer based on regular season record.

Group play will be contested mostly on Friday nights through Nov. 28. Each team plays everyone in its group once, hosting two games at home and playing two games on the road.

"The Cup brings out the best in everyone."

Last year's @emirates NBA Cup chase was incredible... who will capture the 🏆 in 2025?

Group Play starts at 7pm/et on Prime and NBA League Pass! pic.twitter.com/9OiY7HG5G7

— NBA (@NBA) October 31, 2025

At the end of group play, the team with the best record from each group will advance to the Knockout Round. Additionally, there are two wild-card teams—one from each conference. If two or more teams are tied atop a group's standings, the tie will be broken in the following order:

1. Head-to-head record in Group Play
2. Point differential in Group Play (excluding overtime)
3. Total points scored in Group Play (excluding overtime)
4. Record from the 2023-24 NBA regular season
5. Random drawing

Knockout Round

The Knockout Round is a single-elimination tournament that begins with the quarterfinals on Dec. 9 and 10. These games will be hosted by the team with the better record from Group Play, with the wild cards taking on the top team out of their respective conference.

Teams that did not qualify for the Knockout Round will continue to play regular season games during this time, scheduled with what the NBA has dubbed a "formulaic approach". All Knockout Round games (excluding the Championship) will also count as regular season games. The losing teams from the quarterfinals will play each other in "consolation" regular season games.

Semifinals & Championship

Following the quarterfinals, the NBA Cup will move to a neutral site, Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena, for the semifinals and championship on Dec. 13 and 16.

The NBA Cup prize pool will be allocated to all players on the teams that qualified for the Knockout Round, with payouts increasing depending on how far you made it through the tournament. According to The Athletic, the prize pool for last year’s tournament was estimated to be paid out as follows:

• Championship-winning team: $514,971 for each player.
• Losing Championship team: $205,988 for each player.
• Losing semi-finalists: $102,994 for each player.
• Losing quarter-finalists: $51,497 for each player.

Additionally, there will be a Most Valuable Player and All-Tournament team named at the conclusion of the tournament.

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