NBA Announces Home-Court Semifinals for Emiratesโฃ NBAโ Cup Starting in 2026-27
NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association today announced โa meaningful change toโ the format of the Emirates NBA Cup, beginning with the 2026-27 season. Semifinal games will be hosted at the home arena of โthe higher-seeded team โinโข each conference.
Currently, through the 2025-26 season, both the Semifinals and Championship games โขof the Emirates NBA Cup are played at a neutral site – T-Mobileโ Arena in Las Vegasโฃ for the upcoming 2025 season. Starting in 2026-27,theโค Championshipโ game will remain the sole contest โheld at aโ neutral location.
In addition to the Cup format change, the NBA Board of Governors approved an adjustment to theโ Coach’s Challenge rules. Effective with theโฃ 2025-26 season, whenโฃ reviewing an out-of-bounds violation challenged by a coach, the โReplay Centre official will determine if a proximate foul should have been called, rather than the on-court crew chief. This change aims to streamline the replay โฃreview โprocess.Last season marked the first instance where NBA referees could assess proximate fouls during a Coach’s โคChallenge related to an out-of-bounds call. The obligation forโ this decision is now shifting โฃfrom โขthe on-court crew chief โขto the Replay Center โofficial.
The Coach’s Challenge rule modification was unanimously supported by both the NBAโ Competition Committee and the league office.Fans can catchโ all the action of the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup starting October 31โข on prime Video, as highlighted by Blake Griffin. More data is available at https://www.nba.com/nba-cup/2025.