The Nuggets benefitted from one of their replacement games after the NBA Cup last season. Their task this week is to prevent Houston from taking advantage of a lucky draw.

The finale of the NBA's in-season tournament is set, with two high-profile squads meeting in the NBA Cup championship.

Oklahoma City, the reigning champs and a heavy preseason favorite to repeat, are a massive +125 favorite to win the NBA Finals for a second straight season.

The NBA Cup was designed to inject some drama and increase the stakes to the middle of the regular season. For reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Cup has also proven to be some effective playoff preparation for the young Thunder.

Brian Windhorst reveals he’s already made NBA Finals dinner reservations in Oklahoma City as Thunder dominance continues.

No, the NBA Cup is not the same as the playoffs. But it provides the Knicks with an opportunity to gain more experience in playoff-like atmospheres.

By how the NBA defines pace, which is a bit of a flawed stat, the Knicks aren’t playing that much faster. They’re still bottom-five in that category. Their secondary assists and passes per game aren’t much improved, if at all.

Jaylen Brown locks up Luka Doncic in Game 5 to seal the Bill Russell trophy as 2024 NBA Finals MVP.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have always been big, but this season it crossed into a different universe. The program not only attracted huge crowds to the stadiums, but it also pulled the entire country into its orbit,

"Ben was fighting so hard that he blew through his shoe, trying to resist, literally trying to resist Shaq backing down. It was the craziest thing. He actually blew through his shoe," recalled the 2004 Finals MVP.