Earlier in the day, the six groups of the Emirates NBA CUP 2025 were unveiled, paving the way for the third edition of the NBA annual competition during the season.
Each group is made up of five teams from the same conference, drawn according to the results of the 2024-25 season.
During the group phase, each team will play a match against each of the other four teams in their group. The calendar of these matches will be published later, but now that we know the groups, we can look at the potential scenarios.
Recall that the teams that finish with the best assessment in each group automatically qualify for the playoffs. They will be joined by two Wild Card teams, namely the best teams classified second in the group phase of each conference.
Now let’s go to the groups.
Group is a
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Teams : Cleveland, Indiana, Atlanta, Toronto, Washington
Thanks to a record start of the season of 15 consecutive victories, the riders occupied first place in the Eastern Conference from October 30 until the end of the season. But their two objectives, the NBA Cup and the Larry O’Brien trophy, were upset by two teams from their group this season: the Hawks and the Pacers.
The Hawks inflicted on the Cavs their first consecutive defeats of the season, the last being the second defeat of Cleveland in the group, which was too difficult to overcome. Atlanta won the group with a 3-1 score, while Cleveland finished third with a 2-2 score.
With 64 victories, the Cavs started the playoffs as a seeded n ° 1 of the Eastern Conference. After swept Miami in the first round, Cleveland met Indiana in the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. The Pacers succeeded in two more than 19 points in Cleveland to surprise the Cavs with a 4-1 victory in the series.
If Atlanta reached the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, the team failed to get out of the Sofi NBA Play-in tournament for the second consecutive season. The Hawks were very active during the offseason, recruiting Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kristaps Porziņģis and Luke Kennard to strengthen their workforce. This year’s NBA Cup group tournament will give us an overview of the new Hawks face.
Pascal Siakam, reigning MVP of the Eastern Conference final with Indiana, will face Toronto, where he played for eight seasons and contributed to the first NBA title of the franchise in 2019, for the second consecutive year in the NBA Cup group tournament.
Group is B
Teams : Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Brooklyn, Philadelphia two consecutive years, the Pistons (Cade Cunningham in 2021) and the Magic (Paolo Banchero in 2022) added a key player to their workforce thanks to the first choice of the NBA Draft.
With these two All-Stars in mind, Detroit and Orlando begin 2025 as two promising teams from the East Conference and could each use the Emirates NBA Cup as a springboard to a successful season and a place in playoffs.
The tournament with several teams will also give us the opportunity to see the new Celtics playing under high pressure. After defeating Orlando in the first round, Boston lost Jayson Tatum, victim of a rupture of the Achille tendon in the semi-final of the East Conference, and transferred Jrue Holiday (in Portland to Anfernee Simons) and Porziņģis (in Atlanta for Georges Niang) of the 2024 champion team.
The injuries played an important role in the end of the series of seven consecutive years of Playoffs of Philadelphia in 2024. Will Sixers be able to take a good start and make them talk about them in the game group to show the East that Philadelphia is ready for a rebound season?
The emblematic rivalry between Boston and Philadelphia gave rise to 470 regular season games and 114 playoff games during its history. But this year will be the first time that they will compete in the Emirates NBA Cup.
Group is c
Teams: New York, Milwaukee, Chicago, Miami, Charlotte
A year ago, the Bucks used the Emirates NBA Cup as a key element to straighten their season. After having recorded a balance sheet of 2 victories for 8 defeats in the first 10 games of the season, the Bucks won 9 wins for 1 defeat in the following 10 games, including a series of 4 wins without defeat in the group stage, which allowed them to win first place in the qualifiers.
Milwaukee beat Orlando and Atlanta to reach the final against Oklahoma City. The Bucks limited the Thunder to only 81 points, the smallest total of points scored by OKC during its journey to the NBA 2024-25 title. Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo (26 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, two interceptions and three against the same) carried out the very first triple-double of the Knockouts, leading the Bucks to victory and winning the title of MVP.
Bucks are not the only team in group C is to have reached the Knockouts last season. The Knicks also finished undefeated in the group in 2024 and will try to repeat this performance in 2025 under the leadership of their new coach, Mike Brown. While New York has a new coach, Miami now has the oldest coach in the League, Erik Spoelstra, who will try to lead the Heat to the Knockouts for the first time.
The Bulls and the Heat clashed during the NBA dam tournament in the last three seasons, Miami eliminating Chicago each time. They will now compete in a different tournament, in their first NBA Cup match.
Group A West
Teams : Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Sacramento, Phoenix, Utah
Last season, the Thunder won 68 games, the best result in the league, saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becoming a best scorer and MVP Kia, and won the first NBA title in the OKC era. However, a victory escaped the Thunder last season: the NBA Cup. He lost 97-81 against the Bucks, the only defeat in a series of 15 consecutive victories in the regular season.
Before the Thunder could return to the final phase and try to take revenge on last year’s defeat in the final, he will have to beat a familiar opponent: Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves, the OKC opponent in the Western Conference final (a series that Thunder won in five games).
In addition to the revenge of the Western Conference final, Group A of the Western Conference offers an overview of the Suns post-Kevin during, which now count Devin Booker, Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks in their workforce.
This group includes three of the ten best markers of last season: Gilgeous-Alexander (32.7 points per game, a career record) won its first best scorer title, Edwards (27.6 points per game, a career record) finished fourth and Booker (25.6 points per game) finished ninth.
Group B West
Teams: Los Angeles Lakers, La Clippers, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans
Winners of the first regular season competition in 2023, the Lakers began their first full season with Luka Dončić in their workforce alongside LeBron James, the newcomer Deandre Ayton and Cie, in the quest for new titles for the
After being exchanged against each other in February, Dončić and Anthony Davis face their old teams when the Lakers and the Mavs meet as part of the group tournament. This match will stage four players selected in first position: James (2003), Davis (2012), Ayton (2018) and Cooper Flagg (2025). There would be five, but Kyrie Irving (2011) will not be able to play due to an injury (knee).
Zion Williamson, from New Orleans, is another choice n ° 1 of this group, the first two choices of the 2019 draft, Williamson and Ja Morant, of Memphis, bringing their style of play electrifying to the confrontation of the tournament around.
The West B group also has four members of the NBA 75th anniversary team: Davis, James and the Clippers duo composed of James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. Leonard missed group matches last season because he did his debut until January.
Group C West
Les team: Houston, Denver, Golden State, Portland, San Antonio
Last season, the Rockets won 52 games, 11 more than the previous season, and won second place in the West, ending four years of absence in Playoffs. However, their playoffs were short -lived, the young Rockets bowing in seven games against the Warriors, a team rich in veterans. The revenge of this series of the first round will be the highlight of the tournament to the west C.
After their defeat in playoffs last year, the Rockets experienced a busy off-season, recruiting Kevin Durant, Clint Capela and Dorian Finney-Smith to add more veterans to their workforce. And they were not the only ones. The Nuggets, Champions 2023, also carried out several transfers to reshape their workforce with the arrivals of Bruce Brown, Cam Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valančiūnas.
For their part, the Spurs will start a season under the leadership of another coach than Gregg Popovich for the first time since 1996. Mitch Johnson begins his first full season with some masterpieces which will quickly have to find their brands to succeed in their course in the NBA Cup.
San Antonio added Dylan Harper, the second choice of the Draft, in his backyard who already counts Stephon Castle, current Kia Rookie of the Year, and De’Aaron Fox, recruited in the middle of the season last year. In the frontcourt, the new recruits Luke Kornet and Kelly Olynyk join Victor Wembanyama, who has missed the last two months of last season (deep venous thrombosis on the shoulder).
date: 2025-08-15 22:34:00
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