NBA Unveils 2026 Emirates Cup Schedule, East Group B
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- The NBA unveiled the full 2026 Emirates NBA Cup group stage schedule, with games every Friday from Oct. 30 to Nov. 27 plus Thanksgiving week (Nov. 24-25), marking the tournament's fourth year.
- East Group B is the headline group, pairing the defending Cup and Finals champion New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, and Indiana Pacers — all listed as 2026-27 conference favorites.
- LeBron James faces reunion games against the Cavaliers and Heat in group play with the 76ers, while the Pacers' return — after Tyrese Haliburton missed all of 2025-26 rehabbing a torn Achilles — adds a home-soil storyline to the Indianapolis final.
- The Dec. 11 championship moves from Las Vegas to Hinkle Fieldhouse, with quarterfinals and semifinals now played at home sites; no venue has been announced for 2027.
- The format sends 30 teams into six five-team groups (3 East, 3 West), with group winners plus the best non-group-winner advancing to knockouts; the NBA now schedules only 80 regular-season games upfront, leaving a gap to fill based on Cup results and pushing the finalist to 83 games — though the final itself doesn't count toward standings.
- Prize money that started at $500,000 per player for the 2023 champion and $200,000 for runners-up grows yearly with the salary cap and basketball-related income under the current CBA.
Why it matters: By building Cup games into the regular-season standings and only releasing 80 of 82 games upfront, the NBA forces every group-stage matchup to carry playoff tiebreaker weight — and East Group B's concentration of contenders turns those Fridays into a conference playoff preview. The Indianapolis final gives the Pacers a home-soil storyline in Haliburton's return year.
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