Lakers are No. 3 seed in West Group B for 2024 NBA Cup

LAS VEGAS — After winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament last season, the Lakers learned on Friday what they’ll be up against in their quest to repeat.

The Lakers will be in West Group B for the 2024 NBA Cup, the league announced, alongside the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and San Antonio Spurs.

All 30 teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2023-24 regular season.

The Lakers are the No. 3 seed in West Group B after finishing 2023-24 with a 47-35 record. The Thunder finished with the conference’s top record at 57-25. The Suns had a 49-33 record, while the Jazz (31-51) and Spurs (22-60) finished below the Lakers in the standings.

Group Play games for the 2024 NBA Cup will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays from Nov. 12-Dec. 3. Quarterfinal games (to be played at the arena of the higher-seeded team) will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 10, and Wednesday, Dec. 11. The semifinals will be played on Saturday, Dec. 14 in Las Vegas and the final is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 17, also in Las Vegas.

Each team will play one game against each of the four opponents in its group – two games at home and two on the road.

Eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals: 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.

As the No. 3 seed, the Lakers will host their Group Play games against the Thunder and Jazz and travel to Phoenix and San Antonio.

Western Conference Group A is Minnesota, the Clippers, Sacramento, Houston and Portland. Western Conference Group C is Denver, Dallas, New Orleans, Golden State and Memphis.

The New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics are the top seeds in the three Eastern Conference groups.

The 22 teams that don’t qualify for the quarterfinals will have two regular-season games added to their schedules, played on Dec. 12-13 and Dec. 15-16. Losing teams from the quarterfinals will be matched up in regular-season games between Dec. 12-16.

The game and broadcast schedules for Group Play will be announced next month.

The Lakers went undefeated in last season’s IST Group Play games before beating the Suns in the quarterfinals, New Orleans in the semifinals and the Indiana Pacers in the final to win the inaugural NBA Cup.