The Memphis Grizzlies will see some familiar faces in this year’s NBA Cup.
The NBA announced on July 9 the six groups for the third edition of the annual tournament, featuring three groups in each conference. The Grizzlies are grouped with the Lebron James’ Los Angeles Lakers, James Harden’s Los Angeles Clippers, Anthony Davis’ Dallas Mavericks and the New Orleans Pelicans.
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Memphis will play each team once, with home games versus the Lakers and Mavericks, and road trips to New Orleans and the Clippers.
Memphis didn’t advance out its group in 2024, going 1-3 in a group that also included Dallas and New Orleans. The Grizzlies faced both the Lakers and Mavericks during last season’s Play-In Tournament before advancing to the playoffs.
To select the groups, all teams were placed into pots according to 2024-25 regular-season win-loss records, and then drawn into random groups of five. The Grizzlies, who finished as the West’s eighth seed with a 48-34 record, were in pot three, and are grouped with last season’s Western Conference No. 3 (Lakers), No. 5 (Clippers), No. 10 (Mavericks) and No. 14 seeds (Pelicans).
Group play games will take place from Oct. 31 to Nov. 28, with the quarterfinals taking place Dec. 9-10. Game and broadcast schedules will be announced in August. The semifinals and finals will take place in Las Vegas, while the earlier games will be at regular home arenas.
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The Milwaukee Bucks won the 2024 NBA Cup, joining the Lakers as the only winners of the competition.
Wendell Shepherd Jr. is The Commercial Appeal’s high school sports beat writer. Reach Wendell at wendell.shepherd@commercialappeal.com or on X @wendellsjr_.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Here’s who Memphis Grizzlies will face in NBA Cup group play