West Group C of the Emirates NBA Cup is three games into its ten, and as of Nov. 7, 2026 it has a shape it did not have a week ago. Two teams sit at 1-0, two points of differential apart. The Los Angeles Lakers are alive at 1-1 but can no longer win the group on their own results. And the top of the table turns on one fixture on Nov. 13.
| Team | Group record | Point differential (excl. OT) | Points for (excl. OT) | Games left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden State Warriors | 1-0 | +17 | 112 | 3 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 1-0 | +15 | 124 | 3 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | 1-1 | −11 | 219 | 2 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 0-1 | −6 | 118 | 3 |
| Sacramento Kings | 0-1 | −15 | 109 | 3 |
The Cup is the only competition on the NBA calendar with a table. Each team plays the other four in its group once. Three group winners per conference advance, plus one wild card — the second-place team with the best group record. Teams level on record are separated by head-to-head record, then point differential excluding overtime, then points scored excluding overtime.
Every Figure in That Table Comes From Three Games
On Oct. 30 the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-95 in regulation: the Los Angeles Lakers led 38-15 after one quarter and were outscored 97-57 from there, which is how Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors erased a 25-point hole in the group opener. That banked +17 and 112 points, against −17 and 95.
On Nov. 6 the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 124-118 in regulation, trailing 60-53 at halftime before taking the third quarter 34-15: +6 and 124 points, against −6 and 118. The same night the San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings 124-109 in regulation, leading 75-56 at the half: +15 and 124 points, against −15 and 109.
The Los Angeles Lakers carry −11, which is −17 and then +6, across 219 points. Inside one group the differential column must sum to zero, since every point a team banks another loses, and these five do: +17, +15, −11, −6, −15.
Read the points column carefully: the Los Angeles Lakers lead it only because they have played twice, and it is consulted only between teams level on record and differential.
The Golden State Warriors Can Finish 4-0 and Nobody Else Could Match It
The Golden State Warriors have three left, two on the road: at the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 13, home to the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 25, at the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 27. Win all three and they finish 4-0, which nobody else in Group C could reach.
Beating the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 13 is itself the game that caps San Antonio at 3-1, and the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings are each capped at 3-1 already by a loss. That is what controlling a group means: no other result need go their way.
The Los Angeles Lakers Need the Golden State Warriors to Lose Twice
The Los Angeles Lakers have two games left — home to the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 20, at the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 27 — and a ceiling of 3-1. The distinction usually reported wrong: winning out does not win them the group.
They lost to the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 30, so the Golden State Warriors hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, and a 3-1 tie between the two never reaches differential. To finish above them the Los Angeles Lakers must win both of theirs and have the Golden State Warriors end 2-2 or worse, meaning two losses in three.
Winning out puts them in position; it does not put them through. That is why the Los Angeles Lakers cannot win Group C by matching the Golden State Warriors, and why the wild card is the more realistic route.
Nothing is clinched or eliminated. No team has more than one loss, every team can still reach 3-1 or better, and a 3-1 record can win this group — so even the Sacramento Kings, bottom at −15, are not out.
No Group C Game Has Gone to Overtime, Which Is Why the Margins Read Straight
A group game that goes to overtime counts as a point differential of zero for both teams rather than the final margin, and overtime points do not count toward the total-points tiebreaker either. It is the rule most coverage of this table ignores, and applying it needs the quarter-by-quarter linescore, not the final score. All three Group C games ran four periods, so every number above is simply the margin.
What follows is hypothetical, to show what the rule does. The Los Angeles Lakers sit at −11, so a regulation win by 11 or more on Nov. 20 would bring them to even or better. An overtime win that night leaves them at −11 however the final score reads — the win counts, the margin does not. It shields the loser as firmly: the Sacramento Kings cannot fall below −15 in a game that runs past four quarters.
At the top it cuts differently. The two-point gap between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs has a short shelf life either way: once the two have met on Nov. 13, head-to-head separates them and differential between them stops being consulted.
Nov. 13 in San Antonio Decides Which Leader Keeps a Perfect Record
Seven group games remain. The Golden State Warriors at the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 13 reorders the table: the only meeting of the group’s two 1-0 teams, and only the winner keeps a 4-0 finish available. The same night the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Sacramento Kings, the other unplayed pair, and that loser falls to 0-2, capped at 2-2.
Group play closes on Nov. 27 with the Los Angeles Lakers at the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors at the Portland Trail Blazers — both on the road, the same night, in games that can still decide the group. The quarterfinals follow on Dec. 4 and 5 in team markets, the semifinals on Dec. 8 and 9 at the higher seed’s home arena, and the final on Dec. 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Leave a Reply