SAN FRANCISCO – The 2024 Cup Nights, the new iteration of the in-season tournament that debuted last season, start tonight for the Mavericks against the Golden State Warriors.
Interest in the tournament is growing among the players and while all of the spotlight will be on Klay Thompson’s return to Chase Center tonight, the fact that this is a cup game puts a bit more emphasis on it.
“We’re getting used to it as professionals, as crazy as that sounds,” Kyrie Irving said at the Mavericks’ morning shootaround Tuesday. “We’re getting used to that format and having some type of competitive cup in the middle of the season. It heightens up your emotions a little bit.”
The Cup will starts with the group stage that will be played every Tuesday and Friday from now until Dec. 3.
The top eight teams after the group stage – the winner of each of six groups, plus the two next best teams (tiebreakers explained below) – will go to the knockout rounds.
The quarterfinal winners advance to Las Vegas for the semifinals and championship game, which will be on Dec. 17.
“Can’t wait to get going,” Irving said. “Teams are definitely coming in very prepared. A lot of people want to win this in-season tournament. So we just got to look forward to seeing every team’s best shot. It’s exciting games, too.”
For fans who aren’t completely sure what the Cup Nights are, we’re here for you.
Here’s a primer on what to look for during the next month-plus of cup games.
- The six groups (three in the Western Conference, three in the East) were drawn at random – sort of. The 15 teams in each conference were divided into five pots. The first pot had teams with the top three records from the 2023-24 regular season. The second pot had teams four through six, and so forth. One team was selected from each pot to make up five-team groups.
- The Mavericks are grouped with Golden State, Denver, New Orleans and Memphis. Their home games in group play are against New Orleans and Memphis. The league designated the Mavericks’ group as Group C in the Western Conference.
- After group play, the teams winning each group advance to the knockout rounds. How will they be seeded? The three group winners in each conference and one wild card will advance in each conference. Tiebreakers will be broken as follows: head-to-head record in group play, point differential in group play, total points in group play and better record from 2023-24. Said Irving with a laugh: “Yeah, man, we got to run up that score as much as possible. That’s what they want. But it’s all about how you create that separation in your group. Overtime scoring will not count toward point differential. Games going into overtime will have a point differential of zero.
- Are the players compensated? Those playing on teams that make the knockout stage are. The group stage is all part of the 82-game regular season, so player salaries already are set for that. Players that advance will earn a part of a prize pool with those going further in the tournament receiving more money.
- The courts look different – but they are considerably cleaner than they did in the inaugural in-season tournament.
- The tournament is why all NBA teams only had 80 games on their schedule when it was released. The 22 teams that don’t qualify for the final eight will have two games added to their schedule against other teams from their conference that didn’t make the knockout round. The quarterfinals and semifinals will count toward the 82-game schedule for those teams advancing. The championship game does not count in the regular season standings. The cup-winning team will receive a trophy. The games for the 22 teams not making the knockout round will be played Dec. 12/13 and Dec. 15/16.
X: @ESefko
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