INDIANAPOLIS - The Sixers are heading into NBA Cup Group Play with a coach who had not even realized Wednesday that their next game would open the tournament.
Nick Nurse, who has long been a supporter of the league’s in-season event, said he was caught off guard when asked about it.
"I didn't know that," Nurse said, visibly taken aback.
That left the Sixers in a familiar place: still trying to get their arms around the tournament itself, even though it has become part of the league calendar. Nurse said he had not yet addressed the Cup with his team, but planned to bring it up after the next game.
"We’re going to get through this game and then we’re going to work on the next game and the extra part of that game, which is the Cup," Nurse said. "Yeah, we’ll talk to them about it for sure. We want to play well."
The Sixers have not gotten out of Group Play in any of the NBA Cup’s first three seasons. Nurse, who has coached in plenty of similar tournament settings overseas, would like to change that this time around. Still, he made it clear he would not alter his workload approach just to chase a Cup result, saying he would not give key players bigger-than-usual minutes for the sake of advancing.
Joel Embiid, meanwhile, sounded far more amused than worked up about the whole thing.
"I never really cared," Embiid said. "To me, at the end of the day, you've still got to win a basketball game.
But I'm going broke, so I need some money. So I've got to make a speech to the guys, and get them going.
I need a little bit of money. Yeah, it's not looking good right now for me."
With that out of the way, the Cup format is back in the spotlight ahead of Friday night’s opener against the New York Knicks.
The Sixers are slotted into Eastern Conference Group B, which is made up of the Sixers, Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers. That makes it the most competitive group in NBA Cup history.
Each team in Group Play faces the other four teams in its group once. For the Sixers, that means four games spread across late October and November:
• October 30 vs. New York Knicks (7:30 p.m., Prime Video)
• November 6 @ Cleveland Cavaliers (7:30 p.m., Prime Video)
• November 25 vs. Miami Heat (5:00 p.m., ESPN)
• November 27 @ Indiana Pacers (7:30 p.m.)
After those games are done, four teams from each conference move on - the three group winners plus one wild card. Seeding is based first on record, and if teams finish with the same NBA Cup record, point differential decides it.
That tiebreaker has helped turn some Group Play games into track meets, with teams piling on points late. Some coaches have even kept starters on the floor in lopsided games to improve that number.
Nurse said he would not take that route.
If the Sixers do manage to reach the Knockout Rounds for the first time, the format shifts to a single-elimination bracket with eight teams total. Seeding again starts with record and then moves to point differential if needed.
If they keep winning all the way to the title game, the championship would be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. That game would be an additional contest and would not count against the Sixers’ regular-season record.
And yes, there is a payoff. The players get paid for winning the NBA Cup.
The exact 2026 breakdown has not been reported yet, but the league has increased the prize money a little each year. Last season’s structure was the benchmark.
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