The NBA Cup quarter-final field was set on Friday night, with Miami travelling to Orlando and New York going to Toronto on the Eastern Conference side, and an Oklahoma City v Phoenix rematch and San Antonio facing the Los Angeles Lakers in the West.
And the defending Cup champions will not have a chance to go back-to-back in Las Vegas.
New York claimed the final Eastern Conference berth by beating the reigning Cup holders, the Milwaukee Bucks, 118-109 to win East Group C. Milwaukee’s loss eliminated them from contention.
“I told the guys they did a heck of a job finding a way,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
Toronto won East Group A and Orlando topped Group B, both with 4-0 records. The Knicks went 3-1 in Group C and finished first on the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami, who also went 3-1 to take the East wildcard.
Oklahoma City – the defending NBA champions, now 19-1 on the season – held off Phoenix to win West Group A and secure a quarter-final place, while San Antonio edged Denver in a frantic finish to clinch West Group C and another spot.
“I don’t know much about it other than the guys are really excited about it,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I know we’re in because we won. I know we beat some really good teams to do it … so we feel really good about it.”
Phoenix went 3-1 in group play to earn the West wildcard. Their reward is a rematch with the Thunder in the quarter-finals.
“They’re feisty as hell. They play hard,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of the Suns.
The quarter-finals will be played on 9 or 10 December. Orlando, the East’s top seed, secured home court after beating Detroit 112-109 on Friday – setting up a wildcard Heat visit.
“We’re so happy to be home,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We have some of the best fans in the NBA. They’re going to be back there, supporting us, ready to go. … For us to do this is very special for our guys right now.”
The Heat v Magic, Knicks v Raptors and Thunder v Suns ties create a scheduling quirk: the games count as regular-season fixtures, meaning each of those matchups will occur five times this season – the first time that has happened in the Sunshine State rivalry since 1993-94.
Miami visit Orlando for a regular-season game on 5 December – their second trip there this season – before returning days later for the Cup quarter-final.
“It’s great,” Orlando’s Desmond Bane said on learning the Magic would host a Cup quarter-final. “We’re building. We’re building something special.”
The Lakers, winners of the inaugural Cup in 2023, were the only Western Conference team assured of a quarter-final place entering Friday’s play.
The 22 teams that missed the quarter-finals will have two regular-season games added to their schedules in the coming days to bring their total to 82. All teams began the season with only 80 fixtures to accommodate the NBA Cup format.
Those additional games – one home, one away – will be scheduled for 11, 12, 14 or 15 December.
For teams that progress, the quarter-finals serve as game No 81. The four quarter-final losers will play each other within their conference to complete their schedules.
The semi-finals take place in Las Vegas on 13 December, and those games also count in the regular-season standings. The championship game – which does not – is in Las Vegas on 16 December.
Players on the quarter-final teams will each get $53,903. The payout increases to $106,187 for berths in the semifinals, $212,373 for a spot in the final – and $530,933 for each player on the winning team.
Two-way players will receive half those amounts, if applicable.
