(MILWAUKEE BUCKS) – The NBA today released its complete game schedule and national television schedule for Group Play of the Emirates NBA Cup 2024. The complete game schedule and national broadcast schedule for the 2024-25 regular season will be unveiled on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Group Play games will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays from Nov. 12 – Dec. 3. On these “Cup Nights,” the only NBA games scheduled will be Group Play games. TNT and ESPN will combine to air 14 games and NBA TV will televise three games in this first stage of the Emirates NBA Cup, previously named the NBA In-Season Tournament.
The first Cup Night (Tuesday, Nov. 12) will feature a doubleheader on TNT, beginning with the Philadelphia 76ers hosting the New York Knicks in a rematch of a first-round playoff series from last season in which the Knicks outscored the 76ers by one point over six games (East Group A; 7:30 p.m. ET). In the second game, the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks will visit the Golden State Warriors as five-time NBA All-Star Klay Thompson of Dallas returns to Chase Center to face the team with whom he won four NBA championships and spent the previous 13 seasons (West Group C; 10 p.m. ET).
ESPN will tip off its Group Play coverage with a doubleheader on Friday, Nov. 15, when the defending Emirates NBA Cup champion Los Angeles Lakers – who went 7-0 and defeated the Indiana Pacers in the Championship in last season’s tournament – visit the San Antonio Spurs (West Group B; 7:30 p.m. ET) and the Warriors host the Memphis Grizzlies (West Group C; 10 p.m. ET).
On Tuesday, Nov. 19, TNT’s doubleheader will open with the Cleveland Cavaliers visiting the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in a rematch of an Eastern Conference Semifinals series from last season (East Group C; 7 p.m. ET). Next, the Spurs, with 2023-24 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, will host the Oklahoma City Thunder, which was the top playoff seed in the Western Conference last season (West Group B; 9:30 p.m. ET).
After facing each other in the NBA In-Season Tournament Semifinals and the first round of the NBA Playoffs last season, the Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks will meet in Group Play in the first game of ESPN’s doubleheader on Friday, Nov. 22 at Fiserv Forum (East Group B; 7:30 p.m. ET). Then, the two most recent Western Conference champions will go head-to-head when the 2022-23 NBA champion Denver Nuggets host the Mavericks (West Group C; 10 p.m. ET).
Two Group Play rematches from last season will highlight TNT’s doubleheader on Tuesday, Nov. 26, with the Bucks visiting the Miami Heat (East Group B; 7:30 p.m. ET) and the Phoenix Suns hosting the Lakers (West Group B; 10 p.m. ET). The Suns also faced the Lakers in the NBA In-Season Tournament Quarterfinals last season.
The Group Play schedule will feature five nationally televised games on Friday, Nov. 29, beginning with a tripleheader on NBA TV: New York at Charlotte Hornets (East Group A; noon ET), Cleveland at Atlanta Hawks (East Group C; 2:30 p.m. ET) and the NBA In-Season Tournament 2023 semifinalist New Orleans Pelicans at Memphis (West Group C; 5 p.m. ET). Later, ESPN will conclude its Group Play telecasts with a doubleheader as the LA Clippers visit the Minnesota Timberwolves (West Group A; 7:30 p.m. ET) and the Lakers host the Thunder (West Group B; 10 p.m. ET).
On the final day of Group Play (Tuesday, Dec. 3), TNT will present a doubleheader with the Knicks taking on the Orlando Magic in New York (East Group A; 7:30 p.m. ET) and the Warriors meeting the Nuggets in Denver in a matchup of NBA champions from the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, respectively (West Group C; 10 p.m. ET).
Each NBA team will play four designated Group Play games – one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two games on the road. As previously announced, all 30 teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2023-24 regular season. The groups are below, with teams listed by seed number:
| EMIRATES NBA CUP 2024 GROUPS | |||||||||||||
| Western Conference | Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||
| West Group A | West Group B | West Group C | East Group A | East Group B | East Group C | ||||||||
| (1) Minnesota | (1) Oklahoma City | (1) Denver | T | (1) New York | (1) Milwaukee | (1) Boston | |||||||
| (2) LA Clippers | (2) Phoenix | (2) Dallas | (2) Orlando | (2) Indiana | (2) Cleveland | ||||||||
| (3) Sacramento | (3) L.A. Lakers | (3) New Orleans | (3) Philadelphia | (3) Miami | (3) Chicago | ||||||||
| (4) Houston | (4) Utah | (4) Golden State | (4) Brooklyn | (4) Toronto | (4) Atlanta | ||||||||
| (5) Portland | (5) San Antonio | (5) Memphis | (5) Charlotte | (5) Detroit | (5) Washington | ||||||||
Eight teams (four per conference) will advance from Group Play into the second and final stage of the Emirates NBA Cup 2024, the Knockout Rounds: the six group winners and two “wild cards.” The wild cards will be the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group.
The Knockout Rounds will consist of single-elimination games in the Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals (Tuesday, Dec. 10 and Wednesday, Dec. 11), Semifinals (Saturday, Dec. 14) and Championship (Tuesday, Dec. 17). The national broadcast schedule for the Knockout Rounds will be announced at a later date.
The higher-seeded teams will host the Quarterfinals. The Semifinals and Championship will take place at a neutral site, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Fans can purchase tickets and NBA Experiences packages for the Semifinals and Championship games at NBAEvents.com/cup.
For more information about the Emirates NBA Cup 2024, visit NBA.com/nbacup or the NBA App.
The full NBA schedule which, according to reports, will have the Bucks playing at Philadelphia against the 76ers on October 23rd is expected to be released before the week is over.
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