What the NBA Cup Bracket Is
The NBA Cup bracket is the single-elimination layout used to decide the winner of the league’s in-season tournament. After teams complete a round of group play on special tournament nights, eight teams advance into this bracket: three group winners and one wild card from each conference.
From that point on, the tournament shifts into a knockout format with quarterfinals, semifinals, and a championship game. Every matchup on the bracket is win-or-go-home, giving the early regular season a playoff-style intensity and a clear visual path to the NBA Cup trophy.
How the 2025 NBA Cup Bracket Is Set Up
In 2025, the NBA again uses a three-group structure in each conference, with the group winners and a single wild card moving into the knockout rounds.[2] Standings from group play, including wins, losses, and point differential, are used to determine which teams qualify and how they are seeded in the quarterfinal bracket.[1]
Quarterfinal games are played in NBA home arenas, with hosting rights awarded to teams that posted the best group-stage records in their conference.[2] This setup rewards strong early performance, as top seeds gain home-court advantage in a one-and-done setting before the bracket shifts to a neutral site for the final rounds in Las Vegas.
Schedule, Stakes, and Why Fans Care
The 2025 NBA Cup bracket is concentrated into a short, high-profile window on the NBA calendar. Quarterfinals are held over two nights in local markets, followed by semifinals and a championship game at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip.[2] Broadcasters and league partners provide national coverage of each elimination game, making the bracket easy to follow from one round to the next.[1][3]
The stakes go beyond bragging rights. The NBA Cup offers a substantial prize pool for players and teams, turning each bracket game into an opportunity to secure both a new piece of hardware and additional financial rewards.[2] As a result, fans tracking the NBA Cup bracket are not just watching another set of regular-season games—they are following a standalone competition that can shape narratives, test contenders, and add urgency to the early part of the NBA schedule.