Do NBA Cup 2024 games count for the regular season?

The 2024 NBA Cup gets underway this Tuesday (November 12), the second edition of what was previously known as the NBA In-Season Tournament.

Despite some disappointing recent seasons overall, the Los Angeles Lakers are the defending champions after their win over the Indiana Pacers in last year’s championship game.

2024 NBA Cup format

The 30 NBA teams have been split into six groups of five (three in each conference). The top team from each group qualifies for the quarterfinals along with the two best-ranked second-placed teams.

In 2023, the Lakers reached the knockout stages with a perfect group-stage record (four wins from four), then defeated the Phoenix Suns, the New Orleans Pelicans and the Pacers in one-off games to lift the trophy.

How does the NBA Cup impact the regular season?

As was the case last year, all NBA Cup games will be played on Tuesdays and Fridays in 2024. And they are counted as regular season games, with one exception. All group-stage, quarterfinals and semifinals are factored in, but the final championship game isn’t.

To account for the different number of games by played teams in the NBA Cup, only 80 of the 82 games played in the regular season were initially scheduled.

The 22 teams who don’t make it to the quarterfinals play two games (one home, one away) against others who were also eliminated in the group stage, while the beaten quarterfinalists’ extra game sees them face the other team from the same conference which also lost in the last eight.

2024 NBA Cup schedule

For the second season in succession, the semifinals and final will be played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The group stage runs from November 12 to December 3, with the knockout stages starting with the quarterfinals on December 10 and 11, continuing with the semifinals on December 14 and culminating with the championship game on December 17.