The NBA Cup moved into the quarterfinal rounds with two games in the East Tuesday and two in the West on Wednesday.

December 13 delivers quality over quantity on the NBA calendar. With just two games scheduled, every possession carries weight, and every mistake gets punished. The Emirates NBA Cup semifinals take center stage in Las Vegas,

The 19-1 Thunder are currently the favorites to win the 2025 NBA Cup (-125 at FanDuel ). The Bucks won the competition last year, and the Lakers won the initial version in 2023.

The Magic, Heat, Raptors, Suns and Spurs will round out the mini-tournament. It seems like Victor Wembanyama will miss the remainder of the NBA Cup, but MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be back for Oklahoma City soon.

December 12 brings a busy night of NBA action with several interesting matchups. Some teams look to extend their strong starts while others try to snap tough losing streaks. The odds give a clear picture of where each game might lean,

The Rockets have the league’s easiest December schedule regarding cumulative opponent winning percentage (.405), though it includes two games against Denver. They were the only team that, prior to Sunday, hadn’t played a back-to-back. Their first was a Nov. 30-Dec. 1 back-to-back in Utah, and their first rest-disadvantage game isn’t until Jan. 16.

In the quarterfinals Wednesday night, the Thunder easily handled the Suns 138–89 on an efficient night from reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who tallied 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting in 27 minutes. In the other matchup, Stephon Castle posted 30 points—his third career game with 30+ points—to help the Spurs take down the Lakers 132–119.

The Thunder and Spurs will meet in the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas on Saturday after winning their respective

The NBA hit back at a prominent journalist who criticized the way the NBA Cup has seemingly increased the number of games.

Calf strains are up this season, but time missed to calf strains is way up as teams are being more conservative.

The league published a lengthy statement in response to an article recently published by John Hollinger of The Athletic.