Dec 9, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver presents the NBA Cup to the Los Angeles Lakers after winning the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship game against the Indiana Pacers at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
Candice Ward/Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports
The Miami Heat will play their first NBA Cup game of the 2024-25 season when they face the Detroit Pistons on the road on Tuesday night (7 pm ET).
Jimmy Butler’s injury status
Unfortunately, they’ll have to do it without Jimmy Butler, who will miss his second straight game with a right ankle sprain.
Butler sustained the injury early in Friday’s road loss to the Denver Nuggets and was sidelined for Sunday’s road win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was the first game Butler missed this regular season.
There is no timeline for his return but Butler has remained with the team on the road instead of returning to Miami, leaving open the possibility for a return before the end of the trip. After Tuesday’s game in Detroit, the Heat will wrap up a six-game trip with two games against the Indiana Pacers on Friday and Sunday.
“He’s just focused on treatment and doing whatever he has to do to get back out there,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We don’t have a timeline right now.”
Everyone else on the Heat roster is healthy, including Kevin Love, who made his first appearance of the season in Sunday’s win after missing the start of the year because of personal reasons. Jaime Jaquez Jr. also returned from a stomach illness in that game.
Miami’s NBA Cup Schedule
Tue. Nov. 12, Miami at Detroit, 7pm
Fri. Nov. 15, Miami at Indiana, 7pm
Tue. Nov. 26, Milwaukee at Miami, 7:30pm (TNT)
Fri. Nov. 29, Toronto at Miami, 8pm
NBA Cup Format
All 30 teams are randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the previous regular season.
All group play games will occur on “Tournament Nights,” which will take place every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 12 - Dec. 3. All games count toward the regular season standings, except the championship.
Eight teams will advance to the knockout rounds: the team with the best standing in group play games in each of the six groups and one wild card team from each conference. The wild card will be the team from each conference with the best record in group play games that finished second in its group.
The semi-finals and championship game will be played at a neutral site in Las Vegas.
What can the Heat learn from last season’s NBA Cup?
The Heat went 4-2 in group play, finishing behind the Bucks and New York Knicks due to a tie-breaker based on point differential. The Heat outscored their group by a total of four points, behind Milwaukee (plus-46) and New York (plus-42).
There needs to be a focus on not only winning games, but winning big. The better Miami’s point differential in cup games, the better the chance of advancing.
