2024 NBA Cup Odds: Thunder Favored Over Bucks Heading Into IST Final

The NBA Cup Finals are set, with the Thunder favored over the Bucks tonight in Las Vegas.

Jared Hochman - Content Manager at Covers.com
Jared Hochman • Content Manager
Dec 17, 2024 • 08:35 ET • 3 min read
NBA Cup odds Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Isaiah Hartenstein
Photo By - Imagn Images. Pictured: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) celebrates with teammate Isaiah Hartenstein (55).

Only one game remains in the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup — formerly known as the In-Season Tournament — as the final is set for tonight in Las Vegas.

Oklahoma City and Milwaukee took care of business as favorites in the semifinals this weekend, and the latest odds to win the NBA Cup have the Thunder favored ahead of tonight's game.

2024 NBA Cup odds

Favorites to win 2024 NBA Cup

After dispatching the Mavericks and Rockets in the knockout rounds, the Oklahoma City Thunder are favored to win the NBA Cup over the Milwaukee Bucks, who clawed their way past a shorthanded Magic squad and a Hawks team that is just in the middle of the NBA standings.

How to watch the NBA Cup final

Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: Tuesday, 12-17-2024
Tip-off: 8:30 p.m. ET
TV: ABC

NBA Cup groups

The league's 30 teams will all compete in randomly drawn groups for the opening round, divided by conference, as listed below: 

East Group A East Group B East Group C
Knicks New York Knicks🥇 Bucks Milwaukee Bucks🥇 Celtics Boston Celtics
Magic Orlando Magic 🥈 Pacers Indiana Pacers Cavs Cleveland Cavaliers
76ers Philadelphia 76ers  Heat Miami Heat Bulls Chicago Bulls
Nets Brooklyn Nets  Raptors Toronto Raptors  Hawks Atlanta Hawks🥇
Hornets Charlotte Hornets  Pistons Detroit Pistons Wizards Washington Wizards

West Group A West Group B West Group C
Timberwolves Minnesota Timberwolves Thunder Oklahoma City Thunder🥇 Nuggets Denver Nuggets
Clippers Los Angeles Clippers Suns Phoenix Suns  Mavericks Dallas Mavericks🥈
Kings Sacramento Kings  Lakers Los Angeles Lakers  Pelicans New Orleans Pelicans
Rockets Houston Rockets 🥇 Jazz Utah Jazz  Warriors Golden State Warriors🥇
Trail Blazers Portland Trail Blazers Spurs San Antonio Spurs Grizzlies Memphis Grizzlies

🥇: Group winner
🥈: Wild Card

NBA Cup explained

Group Play

Each team will begin the tournament in one of six groups, divided by conference and randomly drawn from tiers based on the previous season's record, to ensure relative competitive balance.

Within each group, all teams will play regular-season games against each other on designated Tournament Nights from November 12-December 3. Their records in those games determine who advances to the Knockout Round.

Knockout Round

The Knockout Round is comprised of eight teams:

  • The winners of each of the six groups
  • A wild-card team from each conference (the second-place team with the best record)

The Knockout Round is a single-elimination bracket. Teams in each conference with the best record will get homecourt advantage in these matchups.

The semis and finals take place in Las Vegas on December 14 and 17, with the winner of each conference facing off for the NBA Cup.

Teams that make the knockout round will be awarded portions of an as-of-yet undisclosed prize pool, increasing the further they make it. A Tournament MVP and All-Tournament Team will also be awarded after play has concluded.


Covers NBA betting tools


Understanding NBA Cup odds

Sportsbooks will post odds for the NBA Cup during the prior offseason. These odds are adjusted throughout the season as players switch teams, show steady improvement, or are injured. Sportsbooks will also adjust the NBA odds based on handle and liability to certain teams.

NBA Cup odds will usually look like this:

  • Los Angeles Lakers +1,300

This means that on a $100 bet, you'll stand to win $1,300 if the Lakers win the tournament. If it's close to the end of the tournament and the NBA has a particularly dominant team, you might see a minus sign (-) ahead of its odds. 

  • Denver Nuggets -180

This means you have to bet $180 to win $100 on a Nuggets tournament win.

Above we have listed the American odds. However, these are easy to convert to decimal odds or fractional odds with our odds converter tool. And don't forget to check out our NBA forum if you're interested in chatting with other basketball bettors about NBA odds. 


Popular NBA futures markets


2024 NBA Cup MVP odds

Read our full NBA In-Season Tournament MVP odds analysis to learn more.

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Jared Hochman Content Manager at Covers.com
Content Manager

Before Jared Hochman joined the Covers team in 2020, he worked for newspaper outlets such as the Chronicle Herald and The Coast, worked in marketing for SkipTheDishes and Vivid Seats, and previously ran a magazine. A journalism graduate from the University of King's College in, Halifax, N.S., "Hoch" brings more than a decade of experience in sports betting, having worked as a freelance handicapper, making appearances on Monumental Sports Network and the Sharp 600 podcast, and now also filling in occasionally as host of Covers' NHL Puck Props. 

Awarded Covers' company MVP for 2023, Jared is an avid bettor of MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA, while also wagering on some soccer and WNBA. His best advice for sports bettors? Price shop — something he does daily across 10 different sportsbook apps.

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