The 2026 Emirates NBA Cup format and Tatum’s scoring

Group play and Tatum’s view

All 30 NBA teams participate in the tournament, which the league divides into six groups of five. Each conference contains three groups, and teams play four group stage games. The tournament began on October 30, and teams play one game against each of the other four teams in their group. The tournament begins with group stage play involving six pools of five teams, where each team plays one game against each of the other four opponents in its pool for a total of four games in the group stage. Group winners advance to the knockout stage, along with one wild card team from each conference, which is the group runner-up with the best record. To create these groups, the league placed teams into five pods based on their prior season records. Pot 1 contains the three teams with the best records, while Pot 5 contains the 13th-through-15th ranked teams. The groups consist of teams within the same conference, but not necessarily the same division. Jayson Tatum, a 6-8 forward who earned $54,126,450 in 2026, noted the tournament provides something for players to look forward to early in the season. He averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game during the 2025-26 season. However, he expressed dislike for the point differential tiebreaker because he believes it involves not respecting opponents. The Celtics play in East Group B against the Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Philadelphia 76ers. Most teams have 80 games on their regular-season schedule, but the two teams that reach the championship game play 83 games total.

Tiebreaker rules and overtime

When two or more teams finish with equal records in a group, the league applies four sequential tiebreakers. The process starts with head-to-head records, moves to point differential, continues to total points scored, and then uses the 2024-25 regular season record before a random drawing. For the 2026 edition, the point differential and total points scored exclude any points or scoring margins from overtime. This rule addresses concerns from the National Basketball Players Association that these tiebreakers encourage teams to run up the score in violation of unwritten rules. Players and coaches suggested alternative tiebreakers, such as limiting point differential to a maximum value per game or using the number of quarters in which a team outscored its opponent. If two teams tie for the wild card, the tiebreaker protocol ignores the head-to-head record in the group stage. I find that the overtime exclusion makes the tiebreaker more fair. If two or more teams are still tied following these tiebreakers, the league uses a random drawing to decide the winner. This ensures that teams do not feel pressured to deviate from standard competitive play.

Knockout stages and prize money

The knockout rounds follow a single-elimination format. The quarterfinals take place on December 4 and 5, while the semifinals occur on December 8 and 9 at the home arenas of the higher-seeded teams. The championship game occurs on December 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The prize money increases as teams advance further into the tournament. The championship team receives $514,971 per player, the runner-up receives $205,988, semifinalists receive $102,994, and quarterfinalists receive $51,497. The 22 teams that do not qualify for the knockout stage play two additional regular season games to finish an 82-game schedule. The two teams that lose in the quarterfinals play one additional game against each other. The championship game statistics do not count towards regular season totals. The runner-up team members receive $205,988 each. You should watch how the standings shift as the group stage ends. Will Tatum’s scoring output be enough to avoid the complications of the tiebreaker rules?