NBA Cup: How to watch, betting odds and more about the league's in-season tournament

The NBA Cup semifinals are set: Milwaukee vs. Atlanta, and Oklahoma City vs. Houston.

They'll meet Saturday in Las Vegas, with the winners heading to the championship game there on Tuesday night.

The semifinal games will count as regular-season games, meaning there will be five Bucks-Hawks and Thunder-Rockets games this season instead of the customary three or four between clubs from the same conference.

Meanwhile, the quarterfinal losers will play each other on Sunday to fill out their regular season schedules. New York will play Orlando and Dallas will play Golden State.

And that means former Warriors guard Klay Thompson could play on his former home floor three times during the regular season; he and the Mavericks visited San Francisco on Nov. 12 in a Cup group stage game and are scheduled to return on Feb. 23.

Tuesday's title game will not count in the regular-season standings and statistics. The championship game is considered extra (an 83rd game) and therefore isn't part of the 82-game season for the two teams that make the final.

TNT will show the first Cup semifinal from Las Vegas on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, followed by the second semifinal at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

The championship game is an 8:30 p.m. Eastern airing on Tuesday on ABC.

These games will be national TV broadcast only.

According to BetMGM Sportsbook, Oklahoma City (+120) is the favorite to win the NBA Cup.

Milwaukee (+240) is the next choice, followed by Houston and Atlanta (both +500).

A look at Saturday's semifinals:

— Atlanta vs. Milwaukee: The Hawks went into Milwaukee and beat the Bucks 119-104 on Dec. 4, riding huge edges in rebounding (55-40) and bench scoring (50-31).

— Oklahoma City vs. Houston: The teams are 1-1 against each other this season, both winning at home. The Thunder prevailed 126-107 on Nov. 8 (a 44-20 second quarter was the difference there) and the Rockets won 119-116 on Dec. 1 behind 38 points from Fred VanVleet.

— Milwaukee 114, Orlando 109: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 37 points for the Bucks, who improved to 10-1 all-time in Cup games. Jalen Suggs had 32 for the short-handed Magic.

— Oklahoma City 118, Dallas 104: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 39 points for the Thunder. That was more than any two Mavericks players did combined.

— Atlanta 108, New York 100: The Knicks led by 10 in the third quarter, then got outscored by 24 over the next 19 minutes. De'Andre Hunter led the Hawks with 24 points.

— Houston 91, Golden State 90: Alperen Sengun scored 26 for the Rockets, who outscored the Warriors 7-0 in the final 1:16.

A breakdown of the groups and their final standings:

East Group A — New York 4-0, Orlando 3-1, Philadelphia 2-2, Brooklyn 1-3, Charlotte 0-4.

East Group B — Milwaukee 4-0, Detroit 3-1, Miami 2-2, Toronto 1-3, Indiana 0-4.

East Group C — Atlanta 3-1, Boston 3-1, Cleveland 2-2, Chicago 2-2, Washington 0-4.

West Group A — Houston 3-1, Los Angeles Clippers 2-2, Minnesota 2-2, Portland 2-2, Sacramento 1-3.

West Group B — Oklahoma City 3-1, Phoenix 3-1, Los Angeles Lakers 2-2, San Antonio 2-2, Utah 0-4.

West Group C — Golden State 3-1, Dallas 3-1, Denver 2-2, Memphis 1-3, New Orleans 1-3.

The best single-game scoring efforts in the NBA Cup this season.

60 — De'Aaron Fox, Sacramento vs. Minnesota, Nov. 15

43 — Cam Thomas, Brooklyn at New York, Nov. 15

40 — Tyler Herro, Miami at Detroit, Nov. 12

40 — Anthony Davis, LA Lakers at San Antonio, Nov. 15

39 — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City vs. Dallas, Dec. 10

38 — Nikola Jokic, Denver vs. Golden State, Dec. 3

There were four triple-doubles in NBA Cup games last season (Domantas Sabonis had two, Nikola Jokic had one and Tyrese Haliburton had one). There have been 12 already in Cup games this season (Alperen Sengun and Josh Hart each have two, while Jokic, Sabonis, Bam Adebayo, Scottie Barnes, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Jalen Johnson all have one).

To the winners: pride, a trophy and money.

The players on the teams that made it to Las Vegas have already earned $102,994 apiece. The players on the teams that lost in the quarterfinals got $51,497 apiece.

The semifinal games are worth another $102,994 apiece for the winning players. And players on the title-winning team will finish the NBA Cup with $514,971 apiece.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gestures after making a 3-pointer during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts after a dunk during the second half of an Emirates NBA cup tournament quarterfinals basketball game against the Orlando Magic Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

New York Knicks' OG Anunoby, left, dunks past Philadelphia 76ers' Kyle Lowry during the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Toronto Raptors' Jakob Poeltl goes after a loose ball with Milwaukee Bucks' Brook Lopez and Ryan Rollins during the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup tournament basketball game Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns, center, goes up for a shot past Philadelphia 76ers' Paul George, left, during the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The Minnesota Timberwolves brings the ball up court against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)

Charlotte Hornets' Brandon Miller, center, dunks between Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr., left, and Jeff Dowtin Jr. during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Memphis Grizzlies center Jay Huff (30) reacts after scoring as Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on during in the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Nikki Boertman)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes had his second two-goal game of the season against the New York Rangers and Jacob Markstrom had his second straight 12-save shutout to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 5-0 victory on Monday.

Timo Meier, Stefan Noesen and Dawson Mercer also scored for New Jersey, which is 7-2-1 in December. Hughes added an assist on the last goal to post a three-point game.

Markstrom, who shut out the Penguins on Saturday, wasn’t tested much. His best save came early in the third period on a shot from the left circle by Artemi Panarin.

Jonathan Quick made 25 saves for the Rangers, who have lost 13 of 17 games. Chris Kreider was a healthy scratch.

The game was feisty, with two fights and plenty more post-whistle pushing and shoving.

JETS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 2

TORONTO (AP) — Mark Scheifele scored a hat trick and an assist while Kyle Connor collected two goals and an assist to spark the NHL-leading Winnipeg to a win over Toronto.

The Jets enter the Christmas break with back-to-back wins, while the Maple Leafs dropped their second in a row at Scotiabank Arena without wounded captain Auston Matthews, out with an upper-body injury. Gabriel Vilardi added three assists. Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves.

Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey had two assists to reach 30 for the season.

John Tavares scored twice for the Maple Leafs, and Joseph Woll stopped 22 shots. Maple Leafs forward William Nylander extended his point streak to seven games with assists on both of Tavares’ goals.

BLUES 4, RED WINGS 0

DETROIT (AP) — Dylan Holloway scored three times, Jordan Binnington made 19 saves and St. Louis Blues beat Detroit.

St. Louis had dropped three in a row. Alexandre Texier also scored, and Robert Thomas and Colton Parayko each had two assists.

Holloway scored in each period in his first career hat trick, including a clinching empty-netter. He is up to a career-high 13 goals on the season after he was held without a point in his previous six games.

It was Binnington’s second shutout of the season and No. 17 for his career.

Cam Talbot made 17 saves for the Red Wings in their third consecutive loss.

PENGUINS 7, FLYERS 3

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored a goal and added three assists to tie Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for most assists in team history and Pittsburgh beat the Philadelphia.

Crosby scored a third-period empty-net goal and helped on three of Pittsburgh’s four first-period goals as the Penguins jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Crosby and Lemieux both have 1,033 assists, which ranks 12th all-time in NHL history.

Philip Tomasino finished Crosby’s backhand pass for a power-play goal at 17:44 of the first period to equal Lemieux’s mark. Michael Bunting scored twice, Bryan Rust scored his seventh goal in eight games, while Rickard Rakell and Blake Lizotte also scored for Pittsburgh.

Tristan Jarry made 23 saves.

Noah Cates scored his fourth goal in as many games, while Sean Couturier and Egor Zamula also scored for the Flyers.

Samuel Ersson stopped nine shots in the first two periods. He was replaced by Aleksei Kolosov, who made six saves.

BRUINS 4, CAPITALS 1

BOSTON (AP) — Elias Lindholm scored with 6:19 left to break a third-period tie, and Boston killed a five-minute penalty without allowing a shot on goal to beat Washington.

It was 1-1 when Charlie Coyle made a long clearing pass to Lindholm and he slid it over to Brad Marchand at the blue line to start a two-on-one. Marchand passed it back, Lindholm faked goalie Charlie Lindgren to the ice and then backhanded it into the net to make it 2-1.

Coyle made it 3-1 two minutes later, and Marchand added an empty-netter. Justin Brazeau also scored and Jeremy Swayman made 10 saves for the Bruins, who won for the fourth time in five games and improved to 11-4-1 since Joe Sacco replaced Jim Montgomery on the bench.

Jakub Vrana scored and Lindgren stopped 18 shots for the Capitals, who came into the day leading the Eastern Conference, and have lost three of their last six games.

LIGHTNING 4, PANTHERS 0

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored before he was ejected for kneeing Matthew Tkachuk, and Tampa Bay beat Florida.

Jake Guentzel and Mitchell Chaffee also scored for Tampa Bay in its fifth win in six games. Brandon Hagel had an empty-netter, and Anthony Cirelli and Victor Hedman collected two assists apiece.

Jonas Johansson made 36 saves in his first shutout of the season and No. 4 for his career.

Tkachuk had to be helped off the ice and to the dressing room after Kucherov crashed into his right leg late in the first period. Kucherov was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for the hit, and Tkahcuk returned a couple minutes into the second.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 stops for the Panthers.

BLUE JACKETS 5, CANADIENS 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko scored with 2:12 left in regulation, and Columbus Blue beat Montreal for their second straight home win.

Dmitri Vorokov scored twice to extend his point streak to five games, and Kent Johnson added a goal. Jordan Harris netted his first goal for Columbus, while Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan each had three assists. Marchenko also had two assists.

Jet Greaves made 27 saves, as the Blue Jackets snapped a seven-game losing streak against Montreal dating to Nov. 23, 2022.

David Savard and Jake Evans each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, and Lane Hutson scored to stretch his point streak to six games. Joel Armia also scored, Cole Caufield contributed two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 27 saves. Montreal had won three straight.

SABRES 7, ISLANDERS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Rasmus Dahlin had four assists and Buffalo stopped a 13-game slide by routing the New York Islanders.

It was Buffalo’s first win since Nov. 23 at San Jose. The Sabres went 0-10-3 during the losing streak.

Jiri Kulich had two goals and an assist, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves. Jack Quinn had a goal and an assist, and Tage Thompson, Beck Malenstyn, Jason Zucker and Zach Benson also scored.

Kyle Palmieri for New York with 55 seconds left in the second period. It was Palmieri’s 12th goal of the season.

The Islanders lost for the third time in four games.

Zucker’s power-play goal 6:53 into the second lifted Buffalo to a 3-0 lead. Quinn made it 5-0 when he scored at 18:21.

Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves in his 11th straight start for the Islanders.

New Jersey Devils defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic (8) plays the puck against New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin (10) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)