2026 Emirates NBA Cup Tips Off Tonight: 10 Games on Opening Cup Night, Lakers at Warriors Headline, Final Set for Dec. 11 in Indianapolis
The NBA announced on October 30 that the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup begins tonight with a 10-game slate opening Group Play, with 20 teams in action on the first Cup Night. A Prime Video doubleheader headlines the night: the New York Knicks visit the Philadelphia 76ers (7:30 p.m. ET), before the Los Angeles Lakers face the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco (10 p.m. ET). Eight more games will be carried on League Pass, with all six groups in action.
Now in its fourth year, the NBA Cup is the league's in-season tournament. All 30 teams are split into six groups of five, three per conference, and each team plays the other four in its group once during Group Play. The six group winners plus the top second-place team in each conference (the Wild Card) advance to the eight-team, single-elimination Knockout Rounds. The Quarterfinals (Dec. 4-5) and Semifinals (Dec. 8-9) are played at the home arena of the higher seed, and the last two teams standing meet for the Championship Game on Dec. 11 at Butler University's historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Group Play is spread over seven Cup Nights across 28 days. The Knicks, the defending champions, open their title defense in Philadelphia, while the Lakers, winners of the inaugural in-season tournament, visit the Warriors in the night's marquee matchup.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：NBA季中锦标赛（现NBA杯）专用球场（资料图，湖人队主场）。Troutfarm27 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / An NBA Cup court (file photo, Los Angeles Lakers home court). Photo by Troutfarm27, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
