The Los Angeles Lakers made history during the 2023-24 season by becoming the first ever NBA In-Season Tournament Champions. While the tournament was met with some criticism, it has brought excitement to the early part of the regular season that was not previously there.
The league made some changes going into the tournament’s second season, rebranding it as the Emirates NBA Cup. The Lakers weren’t able to replicate their success in Year 2 with the Milwaukee Bucks beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in Las Vegas to claim their first NBA Cup.
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Lakers will be looking to get back on track and the beginning of that road is now known as the groups for the Emirates NBA Cup were revealed. The lakers wound up in West Group B along with L.A. Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans.
It’s a tough group as all five of those teams have visions of competing in 2025-26, although that is the case for basically all of the Western Conference teams.
The format for the tournament will not change this year. Each team will play four group stage games on ‘Cup Nights’ between Oct. 31 and Nov. 28, presumably on Tuesday and Friday nights as they’ve done in past years. Following that, eight teams will advance to the knockout stage, each of the six group winners as well as one wildcard team in each conference.
The quarterfinals of the Emirates NBA Cup will take place on Dec. 9 and 10 in team markets with the semi-finals and finals once again happening at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 and 16, respectively.
With the league welcoming a new broadcaster this season, knockout round games will be broadcast on Amazon Prime.
The full schedule for the Emirates NBA Cup will be released later, but it is known that the Lakers’ group play home games will be against the Clippers and Mavericks while they will then travel to the Grizzlies and Pelicans.
Lakers and other 2025 Emirates NBA Cup groups
West Group A: Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz
West Group B: Los Angeles Lakers, L.A. Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans
West Group C: Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs
East Group A: Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
East Group B: Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers
East Group C: New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets
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