The NBA Cup is nearly perfect. Added intensity during regular season games, fun courts (besides the approximate 8 thousand advertisements on each one) and a chance for teams with no realistic shot at the NBA Finals to play for a trophy — those are all wonderful additions to the league's overlong 82-game slate.
But there's one issue the NBA Cup hasn't quite figured out yet; the atmosphere at last year's semifinals and championship were... a little muted. And that makes sense, because it was the first-ever installment of the tournament. But when there aren't any real "home teams" in a do-or-die game, pumping up an arena will always be a taller task.
Last season's championship game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers built some excitement in the arena as the game progressed — the game being incredibly exciting helped that, too. So for now, I'm not averse to the ultimate NBA Cup game being played at a neutral site. The games before the game, though? The NBA is missing out on some raucous environments by not holding those at NBA arenas.
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If the NBA Cup semifinals were held at home arenas, we'd be in store for matchups in Milwaukee and Oklahoma City on Saturday. In Milwaukee, they basically shut the city down in 2021 when the Bucks won the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City fans also always show out for their team in the playoffs. Why forego two guaranteed madhouses?
Adam Silver is willing to experiment with the NBA schedule, and that's good. But the next iteration of the NBA Cup should feature home games for the higher seed in the semifinals — the arenas will make a game in December feel like Game 7 of the NBA Finals.