The Magic on Tuesday night drew a compelling group for Group Play of the NBA Cup, the league’s fourth-ever in-season tournament.
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Orlando was placed in East Group A alongside Detroit, Toronto, Milwaukee and Brooklyn.
The tournament — which will consist of two stages including Group Play and the Knockout Rounds — starts Oct. 30 and will end with the title game (Dec. 11) at Hinkle Fieldhouse located on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis.
That location is a change from years past with the league previously holding its Cup title game, along with the semifinals, in Las Vegas. Orlando reached last year’s semifinals but fell to eventual Cup and league champion New York out west.
This year, the Cup semifinals, along with the quarterfinals, will take place in team markets. The quarterfinals are set for Dec. 4-5 with the semifinals being held Dec. 8 and/or Dec. 9, the league said. All games in the Knockout Rounds will be streamed on Prime.
The selection of Hinkle Fieldhouse “reflects the NBA’s multiyear vision to bring the championship to distinctive stages that honor the sport’s history while connecting with audiences around the world,” according to the league.
All 30 teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2025-26 regular season. Each team will play four designated Group Play games — one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two on the road — on “Cup Nights.”
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Although the Magic and new head coach Sean Sweeney found out their Cup opponents on Tuesday night, they won’t know when they’re playing each team in their group until the league’s schedule is released in August.
What is known is the location of the games. As part of Group Play, the Magic will host the Pistons and the Bucks while traveling to the Nets and Raptors.
East Group B features New York, Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and Indiana. East Group C includes Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago and Washington.
The six group winners and one wild card team from each conference will advance to the single-elimination Knockout Rounds. The teams in the Knockout Rounds will compete for a prize pool and a trophy, the NBA Cup.
All 67 games across both stages of the in-season tournament will count toward the regular-season standings except the championship.
The Lakers won the inaugural Cup title in 2023, followed by the Bucks the next year and the Knicks last season.
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Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected]