The second-ever NBA in-season tournament will begin on November 12 and run through December 17. This tournament happened for the first time last year and was named the “In-Season Tournament”, which lacked creativity. This season, the tournament has been renamed the “Emirates NBA Cup”.
Let’s explain how this tournament works, which teams are contenders, and whether the Toronto Raptors can be a dark horse in the NBA Cup.
The Emirates NBA Cup: An explanation
Before we can get into the contenders, we'll start with how the tournament works. There are two stages in the NBA Cup: Group Play and the Knockout Round. Group Play has randomly divided the league into five groups of six teams each. Each team will play the other four teams in the group (two games at home and two on the road), and then the winner of each group will move on to the next stage. Plus, one team from each Conference that finished 2nd in their group but had the best standing of all the teams that did not win their group will be Wild Card teams.
Those eight teams will advance to the Knockout Round: single-elimination games in the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Championship game. The last two teams will compete in the NBA Cup Championship for a prize pool and an NBA Cup Trophy, which will be held in Las Vegas. Now that we know the rules, we'll preview the tournament.
A Preview of the NBA Cup and the Contenders
The Lakers will be looking to defend their title as the reigning in-season tournament champions. LeBron James and the Lakers defeated Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers in the Championship game, earning Los Angeles a healthy pool of prize money and the trophy. However, Group Play won’t be easy for the Lakers. They were placed into a group with the Thunder, Suns, Jazz and Spurs.
Oddsmakers have listed the Boston Celtics as the favorites to win the NBA Cup. That’s no surprise, considering they won the NBA Finals last season and have continued their domination this year. However, they are in the same group as the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers in the Group Stage. The Cavs have the second shortest odds to win the NBA Cup, so oddsmakers think whoever wins that group could become the NBA Cup Champions.
Other contenders for the NBA Cup include the Knicks, Timberwolves, Thunder and Nuggets. But anything can happen in the Group Stage, and one loss could ruin a team’s chances of advancing to the Knockout Round.
The Toronto Raptors’ Chances in the NBA Cup
It’s been a rough start to the season for the Raptors. After 11 games, Toronto is 2-9. They're last in the Eastern Conference, holding the worst winning percentage in the NBA.
For the NBA Cup, the Raptors were placed into a group with the Bucks, Pacers, Heat and Pistons. They will have to play all four teams once and must win their group to advance to the Knockout Round or have the best record of any team in the Eastern Conference that did not win their group. Although it could happen, the odds are not in their favor. Oddsmakers have the Raptors listed at +50000 to win the NBA Cup.
