Things will look a bit different at American Airlines Center when the Mavericks take the court for their NBA Cup games.

Since the league’s new in-season tournament began, a staple of the NBA Cup has been unique, colorful court designs for each game of the tournament. It’s one of the ways the NBA wants to differentiate its NBA Cup games from standard regular season games.

In case you forgot, the format splits the 30 teams into six five-team groups. Each team plays one game against the other four teams in its group, two at home, two on the road, to decide who advances to the knockout stage. 

The quarterfinals are set for Dec. 4-5, while the semifinals will take place on Dec. 8 and/or Dec. 9, depending on how the schedule shakes out. The Mavericks are in West Group A, along with the Nuggets, Rockets, Suns and Jazz.

See the Mavs’ court design for the 2026 NBA Cup below.