NBA Cup bracket
Eight teams, seven games, one trophy and a pile of prize money. Call it before Indianapolis does.
The bracket
The field is set when group play ends on November 27. Until then it's the real bracket with its seed lines - pick by seed, or print it blank.
Want it to score itself?
Run this bracket as a free pool - everyone fills theirs in, results score automatically, and the leaderboard settles who actually called it.
How the bracket works
The NBA Cup is a tournament inside the regular season: a group stage in November, then an eight-team, single-elimination knockout in December. This bracket is that knockout - the same structure the league plays, not a generic ladder - and once the field is set the real teams load into it.
- Start from the real bracket. Eight teams, four from each conference: three group winners and a wild card. The field is set when group play ends on November 27.
- Pick a winner in every game. Click the team you think wins and they move on. Change your mind and the later rounds clear themselves, so your bracket never has a team in the final that lost in the quarters.
- Follow it to Indianapolis. Work through the Quarterfinals and Semifinals to the Championship - East winner against West winner at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
- Print it or make it count. Print it, copy your picks into the group chat, or play the live bracket with your friends so it scores itself against the real results.
New to the Cup? What the NBA Cup is and how it works covers the groups, the tiebreakers and the prize money.
How the 2026 bracket is decided
30 teams in the groups, 8 in the bracket, 3 rounds, one trophy.
Eight teams, four a side
All 30 teams play four group games in November, in six groups of five. Each conference sends its three group winners and one wild card - the runner-up with the best group record - to an eight-team knockout. The bracket stays inside each conference until the final.
Group winners first, wild card fourth
The three group winners in each conference are seeded 1 to 3 on group-stage record, and the wild card is seeded 4. The quarterfinals are 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 in each conference, and the path is fixed from there - no re-seeding.
Home courts until the final
New for 2026: the quarterfinals (December 4-5) and the semifinals (December 8-9) are both played at the higher seed's arena. Only the championship is at a neutral site - Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on December 11, the first Cup final outside Las Vegas.
One game a round
Every knockout round is a single game: lose once and you're out. The quarterfinals and semifinals count as regular-season games; the championship is the one game that doesn't - it's an extra game outside the 82.
FAQ
How does the NBA Cup bracket work?+
Eight teams make the knockout: the three group winners and one wild card from each conference. Inside each conference the quarterfinals are 1 v 4 and 2 v 3, the winners meet in the semifinal, and the East and West champions meet in the final. Every round is one game - lose and you're out.
When is the NBA Cup bracket set?+
When group play ends on November 27. Group games are played on Cup Nights from October 30 to November 27, and the quarterfinals tip off on December 4-5. Until the field is set this bracket shows who goes where - group winners and wild cards - and fills in the teams once they qualify.
How is the wild card decided?+
Each conference sends one wild card: the group runner-up with the best group-stage record. Ties go to head-to-head, then point differential, then points scored - and overtime counts for neither of those last two.
Where are the NBA Cup games played?+
The quarterfinals (December 4-5) and semifinals (December 8-9) are at the higher seed's arena. The championship is on Friday, December 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis - the first Cup final played outside Las Vegas.
Do NBA Cup knockout games count in the standings?+
The quarterfinals and semifinals do - they're regular-season games. The championship doesn't: it's an extra game outside the 82, so the two finalists play one more game than everyone else.
Can I print the bracket?+
Yes. Fill in as much as you like and hit Print - you get the bracket alone, dark on white, with your picks in it. It works blank too.
Can I play this bracket with my friends?+
That's the live version: start a free NBA Cup pool on Trofeo.live, everyone picks the knockout, results grade themselves as the games finish, and the leaderboard settles who called the champion. Free for groups up to 10.
Is it free?+
Completely free, no login. Fill in and print as many brackets as you like. The only optional paid step is running a pool bigger than 10 players.