The Miami Heat are about to step into one of the toughest NBA Cup groups on the board, and the path gets brutal fast.
Miami opens group play Friday night at home against the Indiana Pacers, with the Heat trying to dig out of a rough start to the season. They’ve won just one of their first five games, and now they enter the midseason tournament facing four opponents that bring very different kinds of problems.
Since the NBA Cup was introduced in 2023, Miami has been solid enough in the format, going 7-6 in group and tournament play. But that record gets tested this year in Eastern Conference Group B, which looks like the most stacked pool in the conference. With revamped rosters, big names and plenty of firepower across the board, a deep run won’t come easy.
Indiana is the first hurdle. The Pacers were the feel-good story of a year ago, but that momentum changed after Tyrese Haliburton’s injury in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
He missed all of last season, and Indiana slid near the bottom of the East. Haliburton returned last week, only to land back on the injury report with a hamstring issue that will keep him out for two weeks.
The Pacers are 2-3 so far, and their all-time NBA Cup record stands at 7-8.
The Cavaliers bring a different kind of danger. Cleveland had a busy offseason, extending James Harden after acquiring him at last season’s deadline and adding Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson, who also got a contract extension.
Their year ended in ugly fashion when they blew a 22-point lead to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, then got swept. That collapse has already started to feel familiar: Cleveland opened this season by coughing up a 29-point lead against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The talent is obvious, but so is the late-game shakiness. The Cavs are 3-2 and have a 7-5 NBA Cup mark.
Miami hosts them on Nov. 13.
Philadelphia looks like the heavyweight of the group right now. The 76ers made the splashiest moves of the offseason, sending out Paul George and bringing in Jaylen Brown, while also adding LeBron James to close out his career.
Their bench got deeper too, with Dean Wade, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anfernee Simons all joining the mix. Early returns have been strong, with Philadelphia sitting at 4-1 and looking like one of the top teams in the conference, if not the best.
Their NBA Cup history isn’t as clean, though, at 5-7. Miami heads to Philadelphia on Nov. 25, the night before Thanksgiving.
Then there’s New York, the defending NBA champions. The Knicks won their first title since 1973 and made only one major offseason change, moving on from Mitchell Robinson, who signed with the Boston Celtics, and replacing him with veteran Andre Drummond as the backup center.
The start hasn’t been smooth, with New York going 2-3, but the Knicks have been a different team once NBA Cup play begins. They own a dominant 13-4 record in the competition and could easily stay hot again.
Miami visits New York on Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving.
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