The new-look Boston Celtics will have their work cut out for them in the 2025 NBA Cup.
The NBA’s annual in-season tournament is back for its third season, with this year’s competition beginning on Oct. 31 and running through Nov. 28.
The “Emirates NBA Cup” begins with the Group Stage, in which the NBA’s 30 teams are divided into six groups (three in each conference) with five teams per group.
Each team plays four Group Stage games — one against each opponent in their group. The winner in each group advances to the knockout stage along with one wild card team, the runner-up from each conference. The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament.
The groups for the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup were unveiled Wednesday, and the Celtics will be in Group B with the Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers.
This would have been an easy draw for the Celtics a few years ago, but times have changed in the wide-open Eastern Conference.
The Magic have the third-best odds to win the Eastern Conference (+550) after adding Desmond Bane to a core that includes Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, and they’ll be out for revenge after Boston eliminated them from the first round of the 2025 playoffs. The Sixers are right behind Orlando with the fourth-best odds to win the East (+1000) and are always dangerous when Joel Embiid is healthy.
The Pistons, meanwhile, are a dark-horse playoff contender after finishing sixth in the East last season and added more scoring in free agency by picking up Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert.
In essence, the Nets are the only “easy” matchup in this group for a Celtics team that will be without Jayson Tatum as he recovers from Achilles surgery and lost Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet and (likely) Al Horford this offseason.
As Boston is well aware, though, anything can happen in NBA Cup play: The Celtics entered last season as the reigning NBA champions, yet dropped their first NBA Cup game to the Atlanta Hawks and failed to advance out of their group.
If the C’s can reverse their fortunes in 2025 and earn a spot in the knockout round, that’d be a nice boost for a team looking to exceed expectations this season.
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