NBA Cup 2025: Quarterfinals Preview, Format, How Much Money Players Can Win in Seasonal NBA Tournament
We have reached the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, the eight-team round of 16: now things get serious. Especially for the players on those teams, because the money is very real now.
“I think half a million dollars is still a good amount of money to be able to motivate yourself to want to win games,” the Lakers’ Jake LaRavia recently told NBC Sports.
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Here’s everything you need to know about Tuesday and Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal matchups and what happens from there.
What is the format of the 2025 NBA Cup?
This is the only thing that has remained largely the same throughout the three years of the NBA Cup. First, all 30 teams were drawn into one of six groups of five teams (three East groups and three West groups). Each team plays the other teams in its bracket once – four games total – and those games count double as both regular season games and NBA Cup games.
The six group winners plus one wild card from each conference advance to the quarterfinals, where we are now. These teams are placed in a single-elimination bracket of eight teams (East vs. East, West vs. West, until the finals). Starting with Tuesday’s games, they will be single elimination.
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What are the quarter-final matches?
Eastern Conference
December 9 (on Amazon Prime)
Miami Heat at Orlando Magic
Game Analysis: After a slow start to the season, Orlando found its footing just as the NBA Cup began. Not only did the Magic get to the quarterfinals, they also got there strong, having gone 7-3 in their last 10 games with a top-10 offense and defense in that span. However, the Magic will enter the game without their best player this season, Franz Wagner on Sunday he suffered a severe ankle sprain.
Miami has been one of the big surprises of the season, with Erik Spoelstra turning the Heat’s offense around, inserting a fast-paced, quick-decision offense that eschews picks in favor of isolation attacks. The good news is that the Heat are essentially healthy for this game, with Norman Powell and Tyler Herro ready to go. The bad news is that they came in cold after losing three in a row, and their defense and offense have slipped over the last two weeks.
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New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors
Game Analysis: Watch the pace of this game to get an idea of how it’s going. Toronto wants to run: It starts more possessions in transition than any other team in the league and has athletes who can finish in space with Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley. Toronto relies on a pressure defense to fuel its transition attack, but when forced into the half-court, it turns to Brandon Ingram and his mid-range game to power things up (Toronto as a team loves the mid-range).
The Knicks will run when they get the chance, but this is the team with the sixth-best first-shot half-court attack in the league, behind Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. New York arrives in style, having won 7 of 8.
Western Conference
December 10 (on Amazon Prime)
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Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder
Game Analysis: Oklahoma City has been a juggernaut so far this season: 23-1 with a 15.9 net rating that is on pace to set an NBA record. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets the headlines – he looks like the early favorite to repeat as MVP – and they have Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, but what really drives the Thunder is their best defense in the league. OKC’s 104.1 defensive rating is 6.5 points per 100 possessions better than any other team in the league.
That said, just over a week ago the Suns gave the Thunder all they could handle in a 123-119 loss. Phoenix was one of the big stories of the junior season and three people deserve a lot of credit for that. One is coach Jordan Ott, who, in his first season, has given this team an identity — that starts with an aggressive, pressing defense — and has them play hard every night (something the Suns haven’t done consistently the last two years). The second is Dillon Brooks, who arrived in Phoenix this summer in the Kevin Durant trade as a defensive stopper and energy and intensity guy, but is exploding on offense averaging 22.3 points per game. The other is Devin Booker, who remains one of the two best guards in the game, but his status in this game is questionable.
San Antonio vs. the Los Angeles Lakers
Game Analysis: The big question here is whether Victor Wembanyama will return to play for Spurs. He’s been practicing with the team, but there’s no word from the team (as of this writing), and reports from San Antonio make it sound like Wemby could miss this one too (Stephon Castle returned Monday night). San Antonio went 8-3 with Wembanyama out (calf strain), and in that time, the Spurs have gotten All-Star scoring and leadership from De’Aaron Fox, and are keeping an eye on rookie Dylan Harper, who has been brilliant.
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The Lakers have been one of the best teams in the West, led by Luka Doncic playing at an MVP level, Austin Reaves proving he’s ready to be a second scoring option, and LeBron James coming back and fitting in, doing whatever the team needs to win on any given night. One thing to watch: The Lakers are 8-0 in their biggest games this season (within five points in the final five minutes).
When will the NBA Cup quarterfinals and finals be held?
Here is the program for the quarter-finals and beyond:
Quarter-finals: 9 and 10 December
Semi-finals: December 13 (Las Vegas)
Championship: December 16 (Las Vegas)
Betting on the 2025 NBA Cup
Here are the odds for the eight teams left to win the NBA Cup, via our partners at DraftKings:
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Oklahoma City (-120)
New York (+475)
Los Angeles Lakers (+500)
Orlando (+1200)
Miami (+1200)
Toronto (+1400)
Saint Anthony (+1800)
Phoenix (+9000)
How much money does the champion receive?
As the Lakers’ LaRavia said above, prize money motivates players and every player on the roster in the quarterfinals will receive a bonus check from this. However, everyone has their eyes on the big prize.
How big? Here’s how the payments break down:
• Each player on the team that wins the championship: $530,933
• Each player on the losing team in the championship: $212,373
• Each player on a team that loses in the semifinals: $106,187
• Each player on a team that loses in the quarterfinals: $53,093
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Who won the 2024 NBA Cup?
Milwaukee recovered from a poor 2-8 start to the season to find its footing in NBA Cup games and ran behind Giannis Antetokounmpo. He took them to the Cup finals against Oklahoma City, where Antetokounmpo had a 26-point triple-double, completely controlling the game on both ends of the court.
How to watch the NBA on NBC and Peacock
NBA Peacock Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week during the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday features doubleheaders on Tuesday nights during the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8pm ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones and an 8pm PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones. Check local listings every week. Both games will be streamed live nationwide Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball on NBC and Peacock on February 1, 2026. For the complete NBA schedule on NBC and Peacock, Click here.