2024 Emirates NBA Cup Bracket Predictions, Best 4-Game Parlay Options!

The 2024 Emirates NBA Cup eight-team championship bracket tips off Tuesday with two quarterfinal games, with the other two on Dec. 11. We take a look at each quarterfinal matchup and give our best spread, ML, over/under pick to bank. The four quarterfinal games will take place at the higher seed’s home court.

Eastern Conference NBA Cup Quarterfinal Matchups

Matchup: No. 3 seed Atlanta Hawks (13-12) at No. 2 seed New York Knicks (15-9)

• Date/Time: December 11, 7 pm ET (ESPN)

What To Look For: There is not a lot of love lost between these two clubs and a healthy rivalry in today’s NBA is a good thing. The Knicks (Group A winner) have some momentum going into this quarterfinal contest, having won five of their last six games while the Hawks (Group C winner) were on a six game winning streak until falling to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, 141-111. Atlanta also gave up 132 points in a recent overtime win over the L.A. Lakers and if New York scores 120 points or more it will be in good shape.

Atlanta did beat the Knicks, 121-116, on Nov. 6, but New York is playing more cohesive ball now and Karl-Anthony Towns is shooting well for New York, hitting 45 percent of his 3-pointers. Atlanta’s Trae Young loves to play at Madison Square Garden, and he’ll have to have a big game for an Atlanta cover or upset win. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Zaccharie Risacher, had 33 points in the earlier win vs the Knicks. Can he repeat that performance in a pressure situation?

Best Bet: New York is a -7, which is a big number in a high-profile game, so take the Hawks to cover. Young and the rest of the team will bounce back from its poor shooting night vs the Nuggets but might not have enough defense to pull off the upset. Atlanta hasn’t done well against the spread in the last two years in December, but will get up for a matchup vs the Knicks.

Matchup: No. 4 seed Orlando Magic (17-9) at No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks (12-11, Group B)

• Date/Time: December 10, 7 pm ET (TNT)

What To Look For: The Magic (Wild Card entrant) are reeling from torn obliques to star forward Paolo Banchero and up-and-coming star Franz Wagner, who was playing so well with  Banchero out since October 30 before he went down vs the Philadelphia 76ers last Friday. Without Wagner, who already had eight 30-point games this season, Orlando might have trouble putting up enough points to cover or pull off the upset.

Asking Jalen Suggs (15.5 ppg) to shoulder the scoring load and slow down Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard may be too much to ask, as Dolla Dame has shot the ball well from the outside (46.5 3-point) since the third game of a Bucks’ stretch where they won five straight and six of their last eight.

Best Bet: Milwaukee (Group B winner) is at -7.5 and looking to keep up its hot streak at home, having won seven of its last eight. Orlando is 7-9 on the road and 10-0 at home. The raw numbers point to the Under and a Bucks win, so take the ML as part of a three or four team NBA Cup parlay.

Western Conference NBA Cup Quarterfinal Matchups

Matchup: No. 3 seed Golden State Warriors (14-9) at No. 2 seed Houston Rockets (16-8)

• Date/Time: December 11, 9:30 pm ET (TNT)

What To Look For: The Warriors (Group C winner) started out 10-2, but has been up and down since, including a five-game losing streak. The Rockets (Group A winner) have won four of their last six games, and have been getting contributions for many, with six different players on the roster leading the team in scoring for a game.

During its valley, Golden State was without stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green, but have since won two of three and hope to hit a peak in the elimination portion of the NBA Cup. Since returning, Green has moved to the bench with forward Jonathan Kuminga getting the nod in the starting lineup. After a slow start to the season off the bench, the 22-year old went for 33 points on 13-of-22 in a 99-93 win over the Rockets on Dec. 5 and had 20 points and seven rebounds in a bounce back win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday after losing to the same club Friday evening. The Warriors also defeated the Rockets, 127-121, in OT on the road on Nov. 2.

Houston point guard Fred VanVleet was out with a knee injury in the Rocket’s win over the L.A. Clippers on Sunday, but the Rockets still had six players in double-digit scoring, led by Jalen Green’s 31 points. Center Alperen Sengun has played lights out for Houston this season and is emerging as a budding star, while the defensive work of veteran Dillon Brooks will be key on Curry. If the Rockets win the turnover battle in this game, they’ll have a great chance to pull out the win and advance to Las Vegas.

Best Bet: Houston is at -2.5. Take the home club to cover, as Houston is 9-3 at home, while Golden State is 7-5 on the road, while keeping an eye on the game-time decisions for forward Tari Eason and VanVleet to play. If VanVleet plays, take Houston and the points. This game is a potential building-block to a young contending team like Houston and it won’t want to drop a third game to the veteran club in a short period of time.

Matchup: No. 4 seed Dallas Mavericks (16-8) at No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder (18-5)

• Date/Time: December 10, 9:30 pm ET (TNT)

What To Look For: This is a terrific matchup of two teams that come in playing well that can put up a ton of points. The Mavs (Wild Card entrant) are riding a seven-game winning streak and have won 11 of their last 12, including a 121-119 victory over OKC on Nov. 17 on the road. The Thunder (Group B winner) sit atop the Western Conference and have won seven of their last eight games. Both teams are in the top 10 league-wide in scoring and the Mavs are No. 3 in field goal percentage (48.3 percent).

Dallas will have to find a way to contain guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 30.5 ppg in NBA Cup pool play, tied for best among the eight teams that advanced. Dallas has an advantage inside with centers Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II, both of whom can create size mismatches against the Thunder. OKC, however, has the second best team defense in the NBA (103.8 ppg), so the play of the Thunder’s Jalen Williams will be key because if he doesn’t have to overly focus on his interior defensive duties, he could go off offensively as his team’s second best overall talent (22.0 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 5.0 APG).

Luka Doncic has been playing like a MVP in his last two games, and he hopes to keep up that momentum while going for his third consecutive triple double. If he shoots a high percentage, Dallas will be in business. Also watch for the production of forward P.J. Washington, who went off in the Mav’s earlier win over OKC with 27 points and 17 rebounds.

Best Bet: Oklahoma is at -4.5, which is a sizable spread against a team playing as well as Dallas currently is that is 5-1 against OKC in its last six outings. Dallas is 4-2 ATS in that time, so the OVER 228 is the play in a three or four game parlay because both teams are hot and put up points, rather than letting it ride on who covers.

NBA Cup Schedule (Las Vegas, T-Mobile Arena)

December 14

• Semifinal 1, 4:30 p.m. (TNT)
• Semifinal 2, 7:30 p.m. (ABC)

December 17

• Championship Game, 8:30 p.m. (ABC)