LOS ANGELES — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic, two early MVP favorites, are one step away from a starry showdown at the NBA Cup in Las Vegas next month.
The opening round of the NBA’s in-season tournament concluded Friday with Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder, Doncic’s Los Angeles Lakers and six other teams advancing to the knockout stage.
The defending NBA champion Thunder, which went 4-0 in the tournament’s group stage, will host the Phoenix Suns at Paycom Center in a quarterfinal matchup Dec. 10. The Lakers, who also went 4-0 in the opening round, will welcome the San Antonio Spurs to Los Angeles later that night.
In the Eastern Conference matchups, the Orlando Magic will host the Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors will host the New York Knicks on Dec. 9.
The four winners of those games will advance to the semifinals, which will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 13. The championship game will take place there Dec. 16.
“I’m really pleased that we were able to go undefeated in our group,” Lakers Coach JJ Redick said after a 129-119 win over the Dallas Mavericks at Crypto.com Arena on Friday. “More important, we’ve got a back-to-back coming up and a really hard road trip [before the NBA Cup’s knockout round]. The Cup is, in some ways, a distant memory for the next 12 days.”
This year marks the third edition of the NBA Cup, a made-for-television event that launched in 2023 with the hope of generating additional interest in the opening months of the regular season. As in past years, all 30 teams participated in the tournament and competed on bold painted courts. The tournament’s opening round divided each conference into three groups of five teams; each team played the other four teams in its group in round-robin fashion. The winner of each group plus one wild-card team from each conference advanced to the knockout round.
Although the NBA Cup is a young event, both the Thunder and Lakers have figured prominently in its early history. Oklahoma City is seeking to avenge its NBA Cup championship game loss to the Milwaukee Bucks last season, and the Lakers hope to become the event’s first two-time winner after sweeping through the inaugural event thanks to tournament MVP LeBron James.
“We play the games that are in front of us,” James said Friday. “More than anything, we’re just happy we continue to win ballgames the way the game plan is supposed to be executed. That’s the most important thing right now.”
Here’s a preview of the eight remaining Cup hopefuls, who will be vying for $500,000 bonuses that go to each player on the championship team.
Western Conference teams
Thunder (No. 1 seed): Oklahoma City (19-1) boasts the NBA’s best record, point differential and defense, and it will enter the quarterfinals as the clear favorite to win this year’s Cup. The Thunder’s core players possess a shared experience in big games that none of its rivals can match: All of Oklahoma City’s key players from its championship team are back this season, and all-star forward Jalen Williams returned from offseason wrist surgery in a 123-119 win over the Suns on Friday.
“One step closer to winning the in-season tournament,” Gilgeous-Alexander said Friday. “One step in the right direction. We’re trying to focus on getting better and winning basketball games. If we do so, all the fun stuff will take care of itself.”
The Thunder has a real shot at becoming just the third team in NBA history to win 70 games, and its collective focus and consistency are crucial ingredients in the NBA Cup’s do-or-die round. Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s reigning MVP, Finals MVP and scoring champion, will have some added motivation if Oklahoma City advances to Las Vegas: Last year, he managed just 21 points and two assists in a disappointing showing against the Bucks in the 2024 Cup final.
Suns (No. 4 seed): Phoenix (12-8) has been one of the West’s pleasant surprises after trading away star forward Kevin Durant and buying out guard Bradley Beal during a busy summer. Freed from the expectations that come with Durant’s presence, the Suns have reoriented around star guard Devin Booker with a scrappy supporting cast. Third-year guard Collin Gillespie has emerged as a difference-maker, and offseason acquisitions Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams have improved a defense that ranked 27th last season.
The Suns pushed the Thunder all the way down to the wire Friday, and Gilgeous-Alexander had to hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left to seal the narrow win. Oklahoma City’s four-point win was its smallest margin in a victory since a 125-124 double-overtime win over the Houston Rockets on opening night.
“[The Suns are] feisty as hell,” Thunder Coach Mark Daigneault said. “They play hard. They play together. They make the right plays. They’re sharp in everything they’re doing. They make it hard to play against them. They’re disruptive. … I have a lot of respect for them.”
Lakers (No. 2 seed): While Doncic still trails Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the early MVP odds, he has been sensational in the start to his first full season with the Lakers. The Slovenian guard has adjusted to life in the Hollywood spotlight after he was acquired from the Dallas Mavericks in a surprising midseason trade: He is leading in the NBA in scoring with 35.1 points per game, and he has meshed well with co-stars James and Austin Reaves.
The Lakers (14-4) haven’t been as dominant as the Thunder this season, but their sixth-ranked offense has been clicking on all cylinders since James has adopted a pass-first approach that allows Doncic and Reaves to run the show. After the Lakers crashed out in the first round of last year’s playoffs because of a lack of interior size, center Deandre Ayton has delivered valuable contributions on both sides of the ball since signing with the Lakers as a free agent this summer.
Spurs (No. 3 seed): The Spurs (13-5) have vaulted into the playoff conversation thanks to a strong third season from Victor Wembanyama, but they clinched their spot in the Cup quarterfinals with a surprising 139-136 road win over Jokic’s Nuggets on Friday even though their franchise center was out with a calf injury.
Though Wembanyama has missed San Antonio’s past six games, he could return to the court before the Cup quarterfinal game against the Lakers. In the only meeting between the two teams this season, the Lakers held Wembanyama in check during a 118-116 home win over the Spurs on Nov. 5. De’Aaron Fox, an all-star guard acquired from the Sacramento Kings before last year’s trade deadline, has done an excellent job picking up the scoring slack in Wembanyama’s absence.
Eastern Conference teams
Magic (No. 1 seed): Orlando (12-8) made a splashy trade for guard Desmond Bane over the summer, only to lose four of its first five games in clunky fashion. However, the Magic has hit its stride in recent weeks, defeating the Detroit Pistons, 112-109, on Friday to cap a 8-2 run over its past 10 games. Most impressive: Orlando’s positive momentum has unfolded even though star forward Paolo Banchero has missed the past two weeks because of injury.
The Magic was denied a trip to Las Vegas last year because it lost on the road to the Bucks in the quarterfinals. This year, it will host the Heat as a more mature and formidable team. Orlando ranks ninth on offense and 11th on defense entering Saturday, a level of balance that suggests it has the potential to win its first playoff series since 2010.
Heat (No. 4 seed): Miami (13-6) never found a superstar to replace disgruntled forward Jimmy Butler, who forced his way out last season, but it has scrambled to right itself with an offensive philosophy change. The new-look Heat has ranked first in pace and last in pick-and-rolls, encouraging Norman Powell, Jaime Jacquez and its other scoring threats to attack relentlessly off the dribble.
Meanwhile, hard-charging coach Erik Spoelstra has overseen another elite defense built around center Bam Adebayo. The Heat beat the Magic, 125-121, on the road on opening night in the only meeting between the two teams this season.
Raptors (No. 2 seed): Like the Magic, the Raptors got off to a dismal 1-4 start that raised speculation that Coach Darko Rajakovic was headed for the hot seat. Those troubles are long gone: Toronto (14-5) has reeled off nine straight victories and holds the No. 2 seed in the East’s overall standings entering Saturday.
Brandon Ingram has conjured memories of Raptors legend DeMar DeRozan with his midrange mastery, and the newcomer has led a balanced attack that features six players in double figures. Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett have both been productive contributors alongside Ingram, and Toronto’s defense has been vastly improved from last season.
Knicks (No. 3 seed): The Knicks (12-6) sealed their spot in the quarterfinals with a gutsy 118-109 home win over Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks on Friday. After reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years and changing coaches this summer, the Knicks are back in the league’s top tier.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have paced a third-ranked offense, and new coach Mike Brown has gone deeper into his bench than his predecessor Tom Thibodeau. The Knicks haven’t exactly taken an injury-ravaged East by storm this season, but they’ve raised their game in convincing wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Bucks. New York, which returns its entire starting lineup from last year, will hold clear experience and continuity advantages over Toronto.
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