October 30, 2026
INDIANAPOLIS – A sign of how chaotic the first week and change of Sixers basketball has been in 2026-27: head coach Nick Nurse, an advocate of the league's midseason tournament, did not even know on Wednesday that the team's next game was the opener of NBA Cup Group Play.
"I didn't know that," Nurse said, visibly taken aback.
So, it was safe to say as of Wednesday afternoon that Nurse had not addressed the NBA Cup with his team yet.
"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."
In all three seasons of the NBA Cup's existence, the Sixers have failed to advance past Group Play and into the Knockout Rounds. Nurse, a veteran of many similar tournaments overseas in his coaching career, would like to capitalize on this opportunity – though he said he would not consider giving any of his key players larger-than-usual workloads for the sake of notching an NBA Cup victory.
How does Joel Embiid feel?
"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."
Jokes aside, here is your annual reminder of how the NBA Cup actually works ahead of Friday night's opener against the New York Knicks:
Each conference features three groups of five teams, and the Sixers are in the most competitive group in NBA Cup history. Eastern Conference Group B features the Sixers, Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.
In Group Play, each team plays each of its competitors once. This is the Sixers' slate:
Sixers 2026 NBA Cup Group Play schedule:
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) August 12, 2026
• 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 Group Play concludes, four teams from each conference will advance to the Knockout Rounds: three group winners and one wild card. The top factor in seeding is record, but the tiebreaker for teams with identical NBA Cup records is point differential. It has become commonplace for Group Play games to feature scores being run up. Some teams have even left their starters in blowouts for that purpose, but Nurse indicated he would not do that.
MORE: Are the Sixers ready for the gauntlet that is the Eastern Conference?
Once eight teams advance to the Knockout Rounds, the eight-team, single-elimination tournament begins. Once again, seeding is determined by records first with the point-differential tiebreaker.
Should the Sixers advance to the Knockout Rounds for the first time and eventually reach the championship, they would play a game at Hinkle Fieldhouse here in Indianapolis; that would be an extra game which does not count against their regular-season record.
Unless the Sixers reach the NBA Cup Championship, all of their games in Group Play and the Knockout Rounds will count for the regular season. Only the final game would be excluded from regular-season records and statistics.
MORE: How (quickly) can Sixers' backup center issues be resolved?
The prize for the NBA Cup is simple: the players get paid.
While the exact breakdown of winnings has yet to be reported for the 2026 NBA Cup, each year the league has provided a slight bump from the prior season. Last year, it broke down like this:
Champion: $530,933 per player
Runner-up: $212,373 per player
Semifinalist: $106,187 per player
Quarterfinalist: $53,093 per player
Now, it is time to see if Embiid can get his finances back on track.
MORE: How LeBron James is making Embiid's life easier
