The Indiana Pacers know who they’ll be facing in the group play games for the NBA Cup in the second year of the in-season tournament. Myles Turner provided the announcement on ESPN with the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, and Detroit Pistons the opponents joining the Pacers in East Group B.
The Pacers will host the Heat and Pistons and play against the Bucks and Raptors on the road.
It’s another potential chapter in the budding rivalry between the Pacers and Bucks after Indiana beat Milwaukee in Las Vegas in the IST semi-finals and then beat them in the first round of the NBA playoffs with some nonsense about a gameball sprinkled in between during the regular season.
“I’m looking forward to being back in Vegas next year,” Turner said when asked about how he feels about his team’s group.
The NBA Cup, formerly known as the IST, was a ton of fun early in the season last year, providing some added stakes to November and December games at what can be a relatively slow time in the NBA regular season. The Pacers beat some of the best teams in their conference including the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Milwaukee Bucks before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Championship Game.
The top four teams (three group winners and one wildcard) from each conference will advance to the Knockout Rounds and then the winners of the first round will go to Las Vegas for the semi-finals and finals. If all of that remains the same as last year.
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