NBA Cup’s 4 teams still standing, ranked by who can win in-season tournament

The NBA Cup is in its second year as a mid-season tournament the league hopes to grow into a coveted secondary trophy. The Los Angeles Lakers won the Cup in its inaugural year, and the competition has elevated to an even greater level this season. The NBA Cup is woven into the regular season, with every team in the league eligible. Group play trimmed the field to eight teams, and after an exciting quarterfinals round, the final four is officially set in Las Vegas.

The Milwaukee Bucks will face the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference final. The Oklahoma City Thunder square-off with the Houston Rockets in the West final. The two winners from Saturday’s games will meet on Tuesday for the championship. The semifinals and finals will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. You can find the bracket and matchup times here.

NBA Cup games have already taken on something close to a playoff atmosphere, and the conclusion promising to be thrilling with three single-elimination games on tap. Let’s rank the four teams still standing by their chances of winning the NBA Cup.

Indiana Pacers v Milwaukee Bucks - Emirates NBA Cup

4. Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks were a disaster to start the season, but they’ve rebounded in a big way since Cup play started. Milwaukee currently sits in the final protected playoff seed in the Eastern Conference at 13-11 overall, and they’re just now getting injured forward Khris Middleton back in the lineup. Winning the Cup could be a launching pad for the rest of Milwaukee’s season to show they’re still the contender they were supposed to be coming into the season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing like the second best player in the world. Damian Lillard is on fire offensively over the last 10 games, and role players like Andre Jackson and AJ Green are giving the Bucks a lift around the two stars. Milwaukee is starting to play good basketball, and enters the East final as favorite over Atlanta. So why are we picking the Hawks?

3. Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now, winning seven of their last eight games to put themselves back in playoff contention. Atlanta has fulfilled its vision of surrounding Trae Young with long, explosive athletes who can defend and get up-and-down in transition, and the results have been highly encouraging in head coach Quin Snyder’s second season.

Atlanta has the personnel to matchup well with the Bucks. Dyson Daniels is a menace on the perimeter who can smother Lillard with ball pressure. No one is slowing down Giannis, but the combination of Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu, and timely doubles from Daniels could limit him a bit. De’Andre Hunter’s emergence gives Atlanta some extra firepower off the bench, and Young is due for a bounce-back game shooting-wise. I like Atlanta to pull the upset because of the way its defense matches up with Lillard.

2. Houston Rockets

The Rockets’ formula might not be pretty, but it sure is effective. Houston started to emerge from its post-James Harden rebuild last season to finish as a .500 team that just missed the playoffs. This year, they’re making a leap into the Western Conference’s elite with an incredible defense and a relentless dedication to attacking the glass.

The Rockets can struggle to score in the halfcourt without a proper superstar to lead the offense, but their ability to overwhelm teams with athleticism gives them enough second chance points and transition opportunities that it hasn’t really mattered. Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun remain Houston’s two best players, but the games really start to flip when Amen Thompson and Tari Eason come in off the bench. Head coach Ime Udoka has somehow built an amazing defense without a natural rim protector at center, and it gives Houston a chance to drag teams into the mud in every game. I’d like the Rockets over either Eastern Conference team, but it’s going to take a Herculean effort to reach the final with the Thunder standing in their way.

Oklahoma City Thunder v New Orleans Pelicans

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder have it all. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the very best players in the NBA, and will a serious candidate for MVP through the end of the season. Jalen Williams continues to develop as a secondary creator who can switch onto almost any matchup defensively. Isaiah Hartenstein is proving to be the ultimate Chet Holmgren injury insurance as a stout defensive big man who can help juice the offense with his passing. The depth here is just incredible, full of young two-way players who just keep getting better.

The Thunder have one of the best defenses in the modern history of the game — a status they’ve maintained even while their best defender in Holmgren is injured. The offense isn’t’ elite, but it’s still a top-10 unit despite a team-wide shooting dip from last year. As a young team that still hasn’t won anything other than a lot of regular season wins, OKC also has all the motivation to win this tournament as a proof of concept that its style can succeed at the highest levels of the playoffs.

Houston is a scary matchup just because it is so good on the glass, where the Thunder can still be susceptible to getting beat even with Hartenstein. Ultimately, the Thunder are just too talent and too well-rounded to struggle for long stretches. OKC is good enough to win the championship this season. First, they’re going to win the NBA Cup.

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