The Grizzlies begin their 2024-25 Emirates NBA Cup tonight against the Golden State Warriors. This will be their first of four group play games with their other opponents consisting of the Denver Nuggets (November 19th), New Orleans Pelicans (November 29th), and the Dallas Mavericks (December 3rd).
This is year two of the NBA's In-Season Tournament, which was rebranded to Emirates NBA Cup after its inaugural season last year in which the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers in the championship game. The same rules apply with 6 group stages of five teams, each team playing each other (two home and two away), and the top eight records (top team in each group and two wild cards) playing in the Knockout Round to determine the winner.
All Group Play games will occur every Tuesday and Friday beginning this past Tuesday in which the Grizzlies didn't have a matchup. The Grizzlies went 0-4 in last season's In-Season Tournament with losses to the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Phoenix Suns. Here's what to look for in the Grizzlies' 2024 Emirates NBA Cup slate.
Group Play includes last three Western Conference champions
The Grizzlies have two home games against the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans and two away games against the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks. Two of those teams (Pelicans and Mavericks) are divisional rivals, and three of those teams have won the Western Conference the last three seasons. Golden State won in 2022, Denver won in 2023, and Dallas won in 2024.
That is as tough as it can get in any group and coming off a year where the team went 0-4 in their tournament games, the pressure to get a win is high. With the potential return of Desmond Bane and Vince Williams Jr. tonight against the Warriors, the Grizzlies are looking primed to break their winless tournament record sooner rather than later.
Will Ja Morant make his tournament debut?
Ja Morant missed all four of the Grizzlies' In-Season tournament games last season due to his 25-game suspension. He is currently out week-to-week with a hip subluxation and pelvic muscle strain injury that will cause him to miss at least their first tournament game against the Warriors tonight.
Morant is set to be reevaluated for the injury tomorrow, so the team could likely know more about whether he could return by their second tournament game against the Nuggets or if he could return at any point before their group play stage is completed.
Grizzlies' Group Play Schedule
Opponent | Date | Time | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
@ Golden State | Friday, November 15th | 9:00 PM CST | ESPN |
vs Denver | Tuesday, November 19th | 7:00 PM CST | FanDuel Sports Network |
vs New Orleans | Friday, November 29th | 4:00 PM CST | NBA TV |
@ Dallas | Tuesday, December 3rd | 6:30 PM CST | TNT |
The Warriors and Mavericks held the first group play game Tuesday night that ended with the Warriors winning 120-117 in Klay Thompson's return to Golden State. The Warriors currently sit atop the West Group C standings with a 1-0 record while the Grizzlies, Nuggets, and Pelicans each debut their games tonight (Pelicans play at Nuggets).