We’re about to learn how far the Spurs will go within the Emirates NBA Cup. Within the upcoming week, San Antonio will try and qualify for the Knockout Stage after going through the Path Blazers and Nuggets on the street to finish Group Play.
In case you are not conversant in the format and the small print of how the Cup works, right here’s all the things you might want to know.
What’s the Emirates NBA Cup and the way does it work?
The league began a midseason event within the 2023/24 season. The aim is to create pleasure for early-season video games by giving them some stakes.
Groups are divided into teams of 5 and play one another in a spherical robin format. The wins and losses depend in direction of the common season, aside from the championship recreation. Level differential in group play is the tiebreaker. Eight groups advance to the knockout stage: the highest squad from every group and two wildcards, the crew from every convention with the very best report in Group Play video games that completed second in its group.
These eight groups will play the quarterfinals, with the best seed internet hosting, earlier than transferring to Las Vegas for the semifinals and the championship recreation. The winner will get the cup, and the gamers get a money prize.
Why ought to I care concerning the Cup?
The Cup has not but captured the creativeness of most NBA followers, so it’s comprehensible to not be too involved about making it previous the group stage. The 2 previous champions, the Lakers and Bucks, didn’t go on to have nice seasons after being topped, which has probably additionally contributed to the midseason event not getting a lot recognition.
That stated, the 2 different finalists, the Pacers and Thunder, performed within the NBA Finals final season, so it’s not like random groups are making it far within the Cup. For a younger crew just like the Spurs that includes few gamers who’ve participated in high-stakes matchups, it may very well be a very good expertise to make it to the knockout spherical and certain face one other good squad in a one-and-done scenario.
The semifinals might be performed in early to mid-December, so among the gamers at the moment out may very well be again by then. It might even be an accomplishment to easily make it out of the hardest group. It gained’t be a disaster if the Spurs don’t make it to the knockout stage, however it might sign a step in the correct route in the event that they do, and it might supply a possibility for development as a crew.
How are the Spurs doing, and why is that this week necessary?
The Spurs are at the moment third of their group with a 1-1 report after beating the Rockets and shedding to the Warriors. The Nuggets and Path Blazers each have 2-1 data, however the Nuggets sit on the prime due to level differential.
San Antonio will go to Portland on Wednesday, November 26, for a bunch play matchup. If the Spurs lose, their probabilities of making it to the knockout stage will dwindle considerably. In the event that they beat the Blazers, they are going to be considered one of 4 groups of their group with a 2-1 report, because the Rockets and Warriors may even face one another the identical day. Then they’ll journey to Denver for the ultimate recreation of group play, on November 28, the place they might safe a spot within the knockout stage.
The Spurs may have main absences, as Victor Wembanyama gained’t make the street journey, and Stephon Fort and Dylan Harper usually are not anticipated again, however their opponents are additionally coping with accidents to main contributors. The Blazers are anticipated to be with out Jrue Vacation and Shaedon Sharpe. As for the Nuggets, they’ve misplaced each Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon to accidents lately, so they are going to be with out two common starters. San Antonio might pull off two wins and take the group.
I’m in! What are the necessary dates once more?
The Spurs will play the Path Blazers in Portland on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 9 p.m., and you may watch on the Fanduel Community. Then they’ll face the Nuggets on Friday, Nov. 28, at 8:30 p.m., and KENS will broadcast the sport.
In the event that they make it to the knockout stage, they’ll play the quarterfinals on both Dec. 9 or 10. In the event that they make the semifinals to be hosted in Las Vegas, they’ll play on Dec. 13. The championship recreation is on Dec. 16.
