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Tim Bontemps, ESPN
LAS VEGAS — The NBA unveiled the groups for the second edition of the NBA Cup on Friday night, with last year’s winner, the Los Angeles Lakers, landing in a group featuring Victor Wembanyama‘s San Antonio Spurs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s Oklahoma City Thunder and Kevin Durant‘s Phoenix Suns.
The Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks wound up in another group, setting up the potential first meeting between Klay Thompson and his former team.
All 30 teams will begin competing in the group stage of the NBA Cup on Nov. 12.
The Lakers won the inaugural version of the event last year, which was then called the in-season tournament and is now called the Emirates NBA Cup. They landed in West Group B, which is rounded out by the Utah Jazz.
The toughest group might be West Group C, which in addition to the Warriors and Mavericks also featured the Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans and the now-healthy Memphis Grizzlies. West Group A consists of the Minnesota Timberwolves, LA Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers.
In the East, the New York Knicks — led by the freshly extended Jalen Brunson — landed in Group A. They were joined by the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets.
Group B includes the Indiana Pacers, the runners-up in last year’s event, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons. The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics lead Group C, which includes the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards.
The groups were determined by last year’s NBA standings, with the teams split into five pots based off where they finished — first to third, fourth to sixth, seventh to ninth, 10th to 12th and 13th to 15th.
As a result, some teams that were lower in the standings last year because of injury — like the 76ers and Grizzlies — or inexperience — like the Spurs with Wembanyama — make for more difficult opponents than would be expected to come from farther down the ladder.
The NBA has shifted the schedule for the second edition of this event this fall. The semifinals will take place Saturday, Dec. 14, in Las Vegas rather than on Thursday, and the championship game will be Tuesday, Dec. 17, rather than on Saturday.
All five teams in each group will play each other once — two home games and two road games — with the winner of each group, plus the non-group winner with the best record, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Those will take place at the arena of the higher-seeded team on Dec. 10 and 11, before the four winners of those games will advance to the semifinals in Las Vegas.