The NBA Cup is an exciting time for the NBA and the knockout stage gets underway next week on Dec. 9 and Dec. 10 with four teams still alive in each conference. The winners head to Vegas but the losers will play one another to make up the 82nd game on the schedule.

This year, the NBA sees great matchup on both sides with the Miami Heat taking on the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors taking on the New York Knicks on Dec. 9 for the Eastern Conference before the OKC Thunder battle the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers take on the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 10.

Though, there are some injury concerns, especially on the Western Conference side. Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is unlikely to be available for any of San Antonio’s NBA cup action while the Oklahoma City Thunder are dealing with injuries of their own seeing Isaiah Hartenstein sidelined for at least 10 to 14 days with a calf strain.

For the Phoenix Suns, they announced that star guard Devin Booker will be re-evaluated the day of this quarterfinal game as he deals with a groin injury. With Booker’s status unclear, the Suns chances of threatening the OKC Thunder -– who currently sit atop the NBA with a 21-1 record –– are slim. While others have stepped up such as Collin Gillespie and Dillon Brooks, still missing Jalen Greeen it becomes unclear just how Phoenix plans to attack this high octane OKC Thunder defense.

The good news for Phoenix is their defense has proven to be a force to start this season, the OKC Thunder saw that first hand in their pool play bout a week ago. Perhaps they could get this game into the mud enough to steal it away at the end.

Ultimately, the status of Booker will go a long way in deciding who gets to Vegas to keep the hopes of winning the league’s third NBA Cup Championship –– and the prize money. –– and who will be back in the swing of typical regular season affairs.

A year ago, the OKC Thunder not only made it to the Vegas portion of this tournament but all the way to the Championship game before falling short against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete coverage of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s NBA Cup run as well as their entire 2025-26 campaign. The Thunder hope to continue their dominance of the NBA and defend their title won last June. Bucking the recent trend of parity in the NBA.