2025 NBA Cup
Basketball tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025 NBA Cup (known as the Emirates NBA Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a multi-stage basketball tournament held as part of the 2025–26 NBA season. It was the third edition of the NBA Cup. All 30 teams participated, each playing four regular season games that counted towards the tournament's group stage standings. All games in the knockout round, except for the championship game, also counted towards the regular season standings. The tournament's semifinals and championship game were played at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip.
Location
- Local NBA cities (group stage and quarterfinals)
- Las Vegas Strip (semifinals and championship game)
DateOctober 31 – December 16, 2025
Venues
- Local NBA arenas (group stage and quarterfinals)
- T-Mobile Arena (semifinals and championship game)
Teams30
Official promotional poster for the championship game | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location |
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| Date | October 31 – December 16, 2025 |
| Venues |
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| Teams | 30 |
| Purse | See prize money |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | New York Knicks (1st title) |
| Runner-up | San Antonio Spurs |
| MVP | Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks) |
The Milwaukee Bucks were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage by the New York Knicks, who would go on to beat the San Antonio Spurs in the championship game to win their first NBA Cup. The NBA Finals at the end of this season would feature a rematch of this championship game and a rematch of the 1999 Finals.
Format
In the group stage, each conference was divided into three groups with five teams each, for a total of six groups. Regular season games played on Tuesdays and Fridays between October 12 and November 28 counted in the regular season standings and the NBA Cup standings.[1] Each team played one game against each of the other teams in its group, for a total of four games (two at home and two on the road).[2]
If two or more teams in a group had equal records upon completion of group play, the following tiebreakers applied in this order:[2]
- Head-to-head record in the group stage
- Point differential in the group stage (excluding overtime)[3]
- Total points scored in the group stage (excluding overtime)
- Regular season record from the 2024–25 regular season
- Random drawing
Note: Overtime scoring did not count towards the point differential and total points tiebreakers in the Emirates NBA Cup. A team's point differential was "0" in Group Play games that went to overtime, and a team's total points scored excluded points scored in overtime.
Each group's winner then advanced to the knockout stage, and one wild card from each conference—the group runner-up with the best group stage record. The knockout stage was a single-elimination tournament. Quarterfinal games were played in local NBA markets on December 9 and 10, with the teams with the top two group stage records in each conference hosting, and the best team in group-play games hosted the wild-card team. The semifinals were played on December 13, and the championship on December 16. The final two rounds were played at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip.[2]
Quarterfinal and semifinal games counted as regular season games, affecting teams' positions in league standings, but the championship game did not. Statistics from the championship game were also not counted in regular season totals.[2]
To balance the regular season, the teams that did not make the knockout stage played two additional consolation games on December 11 or 12 and 14 or 15, against each other in the same conference, while teams that were eliminated in the quarterfinals played one additional consolation game against each other (from the same conference) on December 14 or 15.[2]
While the knockout stage was played, the 22 teams that did not qualify for the knockout stage each played two additional regular season games, one home and one away, to complete each team's 82 game regular season schedule. Among these 22 total matchups, 20 were intra-conference games, with an attempt by the league to schedule as many pairs of teams that were originally scheduled to only play each other three times during the regular season. The other two matchups were interconference games, as there was an odd number of teams in each conference (11). These two interconference matchups featured four of the six teams that finished last in their respective group.[2]
Prize money
Players on teams advancing to the knockout stage received prize money as follows:[4]
- Players on teams that lost in the quarterfinals: $51,497 each
- Players on teams that lost in the semifinals: $102,994 each
- Players on the tournament runner-up team: $205,988 each
- Players on the tournament championship team: $514,971 each
Draw
Pots
Teams were allocated into five pots per conference based on the 2024–25 regular season standings. Pot 1 contained the teams with the top three regular season records in each conference, while Pot 2 contained the teams with the fourth- to sixth-best records and so forth, concluding with Pot 5, which contained the teams with the bottom three (thirteenth through fifteenth) records.[2][5]
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Draw results
The groups were revealed on July 9, 2025.[6]
| Group A | Group B | Group C | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2 | Boston Celtics | 3 | New York Knicks |
| 4 | Indiana Pacers | 6 | Detroit Pistons | 5 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 8 | Atlanta Hawks | 7 | Orlando Magic | 9 | Chicago Bulls |
| 11 | Toronto Raptors | 12 | Brooklyn Nets | 10 | Miami Heat |
| 15 | Washington Wizards | 13 | Philadelphia 76ers | 14 | Charlotte Hornets |
| Group A | Group B | Group C | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 3 | Los Angeles Lakers | 2 | Houston Rockets |
| 6 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 5 | Los Angeles Clippers | 4 | Denver Nuggets |
| 9 | Sacramento Kings | 8 | Memphis Grizzlies | 7 | Golden State Warriors |
| 11 | Phoenix Suns | 10 | Dallas Mavericks | 12 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 15 | Utah Jazz | 14 | New Orleans Pelicans | 13 | San Antonio Spurs |
Group stage
East group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto Raptors | 4 | 4 | 0 | 458 | 403 | +55 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Atlanta Hawks | 4 | 2 | 2 | 468 | 472 | −4 | |
| 3 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 492 | 466 | +26 | |
| 4 | Indiana Pacers | 4 | 1 | 3 | 431 | 431 | 0 | |
| 5 | Washington Wizards | 4 | 1 | 3 | 443 | 520 | −77 |
Source: NBA
Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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East group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando Magic | 4 | 4 | 0 | 484 | 420 | +64 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Boston Celtics | 4 | 2 | 2 | 441 | 458 | −17 | |
| 3 | Detroit Pistons | 4 | 2 | 2 | 462 | 441 | +21 | |
| 4 | Philadelphia 76ers | 4 | 1 | 3 | 431 | 470 | −39 | |
| 5 | Brooklyn Nets | 4 | 1 | 3 | 421 | 450 | −29 |
Source: NBA
Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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East group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Knicks | 4 | 3 | 1 | 512 | 477 | +35 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Miami Heat | 4 | 3 | 1 | 507 | 458 | +49 | |
| 3 | Milwaukee Bucks | 4 | 2 | 2 | 467 | 463 | +4 | |
| 4 | Charlotte Hornets | 4 | 1 | 3 | 461 | 500 | −39 | |
| 5 | Chicago Bulls | 4 | 1 | 3 | 468 | 517 | −49 |
Source: NBA
Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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West group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 4 | 4 | 0 | 512 | 437 | +75 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Phoenix Suns | 4 | 3 | 1 | 463 | 432 | +31 | |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 4 | 2 | 2 | 479 | 434 | +45 | |
| 4 | Utah Jazz | 4 | 1 | 3 | 433 | 518 | −85 | |
| 5 | Sacramento Kings | 4 | 0 | 4 | 430 | 496 | −66 |
Source: NBA
Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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West group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Lakers | 4 | 4 | 0 | 499 | 453 | +46 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Memphis Grizzlies | 4 | 3 | 1 | 464 | 450 | +14 | |
| 3 | Los Angeles Clippers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 465 | 485 | −20 | |
| 4 | Dallas Mavericks | 4 | 1 | 3 | 455 | 476 | −21 | |
| 5 | New Orleans Pelicans | 4 | 0 | 4 | 465 | 484 | −19 |
Source: NBA
Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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West group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Antonio Spurs | 4 | 3 | 1 | 483 | 457 | +26 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Denver Nuggets | 4 | 2 | 2 | 484 | 461 | +23 | |
| 3 | Houston Rockets | 4 | 2 | 2 | 463 | 449 | +14 | |
| 4 | Portland Trail Blazers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 454 | 485 | −31 | |
| 5 | Golden State Warriors | 4 | 1 | 3 | 436 | 468 | −32 |
Source: NBA
Games | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ranking of wild card teams
Eastern Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami Heat | 4 | 3 | 1 | 507 | 458 | +49 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Atlanta Hawks | 4 | 2 | 2 | 468 | 472 | −4 | |
| 3 | Boston Celtics | 4 | 2 | 2 | 441 | 458 | −17 |
Source: NBA
Western Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phoenix Suns | 4 | 3 | 1 | 463 | 432 | +31 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Memphis Grizzlies | 4 | 3 | 1 | 464 | 450 | +14 | |
| 3 | Denver Nuggets | 4 | 2 | 2 | 484 | 461 | +23 |
Source: NBA
Knockout rounds
Qualified teams
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Eastern Conference
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Western Conference
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Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship game | ||||||||
| December 9 – Orlando, FL | ||||||||||
1 Orlando | 117 | |||||||||
| December 13 – Las Vegas, NV | ||||||||||
4 Miami | 108 | |||||||||
1 Orlando | 120 | |||||||||
| December 9 – Toronto, ON | ||||||||||
3 New York | 132 | |||||||||
2 Toronto | 101 | |||||||||
| December 16 – Las Vegas, NV | ||||||||||
3 New York | 117 | |||||||||
3 New York | 124 | |||||||||
| December 10 – Oklahoma City, OK | ||||||||||
3 San Antonio | 113 | |||||||||
1 Oklahoma City | 138 | |||||||||
| December 13 – Las Vegas, NV | ||||||||||
4 Phoenix | 89 | |||||||||
1 Oklahoma City | 109 | |||||||||
| December 10 – Los Angeles, CA | ||||||||||
3 San Antonio | 111 | |||||||||
2 LA Lakers | 119 | |||||||||
3 San Antonio | 132 | |||||||||
Quarterfinals
- Note: Times are Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) as listed by the NBA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.
December 9 6:00 p.m. |
| Miami Heat 108, Orlando Magic 117 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 30–17, 27–39, 26–33, 25–28 | ||
| Pts: Norman Powell (21) Rebs: Bam Adebayo (8) Asts: Davion Mitchell (9) |
Pts: Desmond Bane (37) Rebs: Wendell Carter Jr. (10) Asts: Anthony Black (7) | |
December 9 8:30 p.m. |
| New York Knicks 117, Toronto Raptors 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 35–39, 34–13, 25–27, 23–22 | ||
| Pts: Jalen Brunson (35) Rebs: Karl-Anthony Towns (16) Asts: Bridges, Brunson, Hart, Robinson (4) |
Pts: Brandon Ingram (31) Rebs: Jakob Pöltl (9) Asts: Jamal Shead (8) | |
| Phoenix Suns 89, Oklahoma City Thunder 138 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 23–38, 25–36, 24–36, 17–28 | ||
| Pts: Dillon Brooks (16) Rebs: Ighodaro, Richards, Williams (5) Asts: Jamaree Bouyea (5) |
Pts: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28) Rebs: Chet Holmgren (8) Asts: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (8) | |
Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK Attendance: 18,203 Referees: James Williams, Ray Acosta, Danielle Scott |
| San Antonio Spurs 132, Los Angeles Lakers 119 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 39–30, 31–28, 34–29, 28–32 | ||
| Pts: Stephon Castle (30) Rebs: Stephon Castle (10) Asts: Stephon Castle (6) |
Pts: Luka Dončić (35) Rebs: LeBron James (15) Asts: Dončić, James (8) | |
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA Attendance: 18,684 Referees: John Goble, John Butler, Brandon Schwab |
Semifinals
December 13 5:30 PM (2:30 PM Pacific) |
| New York Knicks 132, Orlando Magic 120 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 33–36, 38–28, 29–28, 32–28 | ||
| Pts: Jalen Brunson (40) Rebs: Mitchell Robinson (9) Asts: Jalen Brunson (8) |
Pts: Jalen Suggs (26) Rebs: Banchero, Black (8) Asts: Bane, Suggs (7) | |
December 13 9:00 PM (6:00 PM Pacific) |
| San Antonio Spurs 111, Oklahoma City Thunder 109 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–31, 26–18, 32–28, 33–32 | ||
| Pts: Devin Vassell (23) Rebs: Victor Wembanyama (9) Asts: Harrison Barnes (5) |
Pts: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29) Rebs: Caruso, Hartenstein (8) Asts: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (5) | |
Championship game
December 16 8:30 PM (5:30 PM Pacific) |
| New York Knicks 124, San Antonio Spurs 113 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28–30, 31–31, 30–33, 35–19 | ||
| Pts: OG Anunoby (28) Rebs: Mitchell Robinson (15) Asts: Jalen Brunson (8) |
Pts: Dylan Harper (21) Rebs: Castle, Harper (7) Asts: Stephon Castle (12) | |
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Awards and aftermath
The Knicks won their first NBA Cup title, and Jalen Brunson was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the tournament after the championship game on December 16. Each player on the Knicks roster received $530,000 in prize money, while Spurs players received $212,000 each. In contrast with the past two Cup champions, the Knicks decided not to raise a championship banner to commemorate their Cup victory.[8]
Both teams will face each other again in the 2026 NBA Finals, after the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East Finals, and the Spurs defeated the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games in the West Finals. This marks the first time the winner of the NBA Cup reaches the NBA Finals in the same season, and also the first time both finalists of the NBA Cup for a particular season reaches the same season's NBA Finals.[citation needed]
On December 18, the NBA announced the All-Tournament Team:[9]
| Pos. | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| G | Jalen Brunson (MVP) | New York Knicks |
| G | Luka Dončić | Los Angeles Lakers |
| G | De'Aaron Fox | San Antonio Spurs |
| G | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| C | Karl-Anthony Towns | New York Knicks |
Media coverage
With games primarily on Friday evenings, Prime Video aired the majority of group play games. A limited number of Tuesday night games aired on NBC and Peacock, while a limited number of Wednesday night games aired on ESPN.[10] All knockout round games, including the final, aired on Prime Video.[11]