The NBA Cup 2026 starts Friday night with 10 group games across the league, and the schedule gives the opening night two clear headliners. The New York Knicks visit the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 p.m. ET, and the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. ET. Both games stream on Amazon Prime Video as a doubleheader. Eight more games fill out the card.
Friday is the first NBA Cup 2026 group night, with more Fridays to follow through Nov. 27. The games count twice, once in the regular season standings and once in the Cup standings. A November loss hurts a team in two races at once, and a November win helps in both. The courts will look different, too, with bright designs made for Cup nights and home teams in their Statement Edition uniforms.
NBA Cup 2026 format and groups explained
The NBA Cup 2026 puts all 30 teams into six groups of five, three in the East and three in the West. Each team plays the other four teams in its group once, for four group games in total. The six group winners advance, along with one wild card team from each conference. The wild cards are decided by head-to-head record and point differential, so the margin of a win can matter as much as the win itself.
East Group B is Cleveland, Indiana, Miami, New York and Philadelphia. East Group A is Brooklyn, Detroit, Milwaukee, Orlando and Toronto. East Group C is Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago and Washington. In the West, Group A is Dallas, Denver, Houston, Phoenix and Utah. Group B is the LA Clippers, Memphis, Minnesota, New Orleans and Oklahoma City. Group C is Golden State, the Lakers, Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio.
The eight teams in the NBA Cup 2026 knockout round play single-elimination games, with the East kept apart from the West until the final. The quarterfinals are set for Dec. 4 and 5 on the home court of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals follow on Dec. 8 and 9, also on the home court of the higher remaining seed in each conference. That home-court change is new this season.
NBA Cup 2026 final moves to Indianapolis
The NBA Cup 2026 final is set for Dec. 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, home of the Butler Bulldogs. The first three Cup finals were staged at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Hinkle hosted the 1954 Indiana high school title game that inspired the film “Hoosiers.” Prime Video will stream the championship game.
New York arrives as the defending Cup champion after beating a young San Antonio team last December, with Jalen Brunson named Cup MVP. That win foreshadowed what came in June, when the Knicks won their first title in 53 years. San Antonio is the runner-up and a team to watch again in West Group C.
Money is part of the draw for players. Each player on the championship team receives more than $500,000. Each player on the runner-up team receives more than $200,000. Players on the two teams that lose in the semifinals receive more than $100,000 each, and players on teams that win their group but lose in the quarterfinals receive more than $50,000 each. For players on minimum salaries, that money is a large sum.
NBA Cup 2026 opening night and TV schedule
The NBA Cup 2026 opening night pairs the defending champions with a Philadelphia team now led by LeBron James. The Knicks and 76ers meet again after opening the regular season against each other 10 days earlier. The nightcap pairs Luka Doncic and the Lakers with Stephen Curry and the Warriors in San Francisco. The nightcap is at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Most NBA Cup 2026 games are on Friday nights on Prime Video through Nov. 27. Cup games also air on NBC and Peacock on Nov. 24, when Boston visits Washington and Dallas visits Denver, and on ESPN on Nov. 25. Prime Video closes group play on Black Friday, Nov. 27, with Miami at New York followed by the Lakers at San Antonio, after its afternoon NFL game between Denver and Pittsburgh. Prime Video streams 67 regular season and Cup games this season.
Friday also falls on the scheduled date for Game 6 of the World Series, if that series goes that far, so the Cup opener shares the night with baseball. The other Oct. 30 games, in Eastern time, are Charlotte at Washington at 7 p.m., Chicago at Boston, Detroit at Brooklyn and Orlando at Toronto at 7:30 p.m., Indiana at Miami, Houston at Dallas and the LA Clippers at Minnesota at 8 p.m., and Denver at Phoenix at 10 p.m. Group play then continues on Nov. 6, Nov. 13, Nov. 20, Nov. 24, Nov. 25 and Nov. 27.