By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: 20:16 BST, 9 July 2025 | Updated: 20:16 BST, 9 July 2025
NEW YORK (AP) - Defending NBA Cup champion Milwaukee will play its group-stage games in this season´s tournament against New York, Chicago, Charlotte and Miami, the league announced Wednesday.
The league unveiled the groups for the third year of the tournament, which tips off on Oct. 31. Group play continues through Nov. 28.
Quarterfinals will be Dec. 9 and Dec. 10, with the tournament semifinals on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas. The championship game - which will not count toward the season record and statistics for either of the clubs involved - is Dec. 16 in Las Vegas.
In group play, teams will all have two road and two home games. Teams that do not reach the quarterfinals or semifinals will have added to their schedules matchups against two other teams that also did not qualify for the Cup playoffs, pushing the season to the full 82 games.
Quarterfinals and semifinal games will count toward the regular season for the teams involved in those contests.
Full schedules will be announced in August, coinciding with the rest of the NBA´s schedule rollout for the 2025-26 season.
FILE - Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis (9) gestures after a basket during the second half of a first-round NBA basketball playoff game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
The groups:
East Group A - Cleveland, Indiana, Atlanta, Toronto, Washington.
East Group B - Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Brooklyn, Philadelphia.
East Group C - Milwaukee, New York, Chicago, Miami, Charlotte.
West Group A - Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Sacramento, Phoenix, Utah.
West Group B - LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans.
West Group C - Houston, Denver, Golden State, Portland, San Antonio.
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AP NBA: [https://apnews.com/hub/nba](https://apnews.com/hub/nba)
FILE - Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, during the second half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings, File)