Spurs will face Thunder, Suns, Lakers, and Jazz in NBA Cup Group Play
Let's preview the Spurs' group play opponents and review how the NBA Cup works during the regular season.
Friday evening the NBA revealed the group play matchups for the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup during the regular season.
Using a random drawing method, the Spurs ended up being drawn into the Western Conference Group B, along with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, and Spurs.
The random drawings were based on regular season records from last season.
Let’s take a look at each of the four teams the Spurs will play in group play, based on the moves each team has made in the offseason. Dates and times haven’t been released yet, but the NBA did provide the locations for where the games will take place.
vs Oklahoma City Thunder (1 seed, 57-25 last season)
As mentioned in a preview of the Spurs’ preseason schedule, the Thunder have made two major additions by trading for guard Alex Caruso and signing big man Isaiah Hartenstein.
The Spurs went 1-3 against the Thunder last season. The Thunder will be favored in this matchup.
The Thunder will not only be the favorites to have the best record out West this coming season, they’ll likely be the favorites to win this group as well.
at Phoenix Suns (2 seed, 49-33 last season)
Being a team over the second apron, the Suns haven’t been able to make any major additions this offseason. Some veteran players they’ve signed to minimum deals are Mason Plumlee and Monte Morris. They did use the draft to add younger players to their team, such as Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
The Spurs matched up well with the Suns last season, winning 3 of the 4 games against Phoenix. Early prediction, this is a winnable game for San Antonio, though Phoenix may be slightly favored.
vs Los Angeles Lakers (3 seed, 47-35 last season)
Being right under the second apron, the Lakers haven’t been able to make any big free agent moves this offseason. They did use the draft to add sharpshooter Dalton Knecht and they drafted and signed Bronny James.
The Spurs went 1-2 against the Lakers last season. Early prediction on paper, the Lakers will probably be favored in this game, but this too could be a winnable game for San Antonio.
at Utah Jazz (4 seed, 31-51 last season)
Aside from agreeing to sign Drew Eubanks and re-signing Johnny Juzang, the Jazz appear to be holding onto their cap space to renegotiate-and-extend Lauri Markkanen’s contract on August 6. The Jazz used the draft to add Cody Williams and Isaiah Collier.
The Spurs went 1-2 against Utah last season, but based on where the rosters are today, the Spurs should be a favorite in this matchup.
Format Review
Each game will count as a regular season game on the records for all teams. The team that wins their group automatically advances to the knockout rounds. There will also be one wild card team from each conference, based on the team who had the second best record among teams in each conference from the groups.
The group play games will be called “Cup Nights” and will take place starting November 12, and finishing December 3. For the four teams that advance to the semifinals, that game will take place in Las Vegas on December 14. The two finalists will meet in the championship game on December 17 in Vegas.