Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday! The night of December 3rd will mark the end of group play in the second NBA Cup, and then move on to the single-elimination round of what was formerly known as the In-Season Tournament. Three of the six group winners have already been decided before the final night of group games, but uncertainty reigns elsewhere.

The battle for East Group B rages on and the jiu-jitsu level of battle for wildcard spots in both conferences is very contentious. We already have a surprise group winner and with West Group B and the West Wildcard we still have so much to figure out in this whole ordeal. Everything will be decided on Tuesday evening.

Need a refresher on the format? We are here for you. The three group winners from each conference, along with the best second-place team, advance to next week’s quarterfinals. The top group winner hosts the wildcard team on one side of the group, while the second best group winner hosts the third best group winner on the other side. The winners of each game will meet in the semifinals on December 14th in Las Vegas, and the winners of those games will face off in an East-West showdown for the title on December 17th.

Here’s the NBA Cup breakdown you need for Tuesday night.

What we know so far

The Atlanta Hawks won Group C in the East and are in third place. The Hawks will face the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons or Milwaukee Bucks in an NBA Cup quarterfinal on Dec. 10 or 11, depending on Tuesday’s results.

In the Western Conference, the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors are through as group winners, but have not secured a place at the top unless they each win their final game.

The remaining group winners will be determined on Tuesday, as will the race for the wildcard spot in each conference.

Current status

Remember, the tiebreakers for qualification and seeding are (in that order):

• Head-to-head in group play
• Point difference
• Total points achieved
• Last season’s regular season record

Additionally, any game in the group stage that goes into extra time will result in a point difference of zero for both teams. Why? The NBA decided that.

(Each team below is listed by their record, point differential and total points in NBA Cup games.)

EASTERN GROUP A:

1. Orlando Magic: 3-0 (+60) (335-275)
2. New York Knicks: 3-0 (+15) (334-319)
3. Philadelphia 76ers: 1-2 (-9) (298-307)
4. Brooklyn Nets: 1-3 (-36) (436-475)
5. Charlotte Hornets: 0-3 (-27) (302-329)

EASTERN GROUP B:

1. Milwaukee Bucks: 3-0 (+29) (334-305)
2. Detroit pistons: 3-0 (+28) (340-312)
3. Miami Heat: 2-2 (+20) (459-439)
4. Toronto Raptors: 0-3 (-28) (291-319)
5. Indiana Pacers: 0-3 (-49) (334-383)

EASTERN GROUP C

1. Atlanta Hawks: 3-1 (+15) (485-470)
2. Boston Celtics: 3-1 (+23) (482-459)
3. Chicago Bulls: 2-2 (+6) (518-512)
4. Cleveland Cavaliers: 1-2 (-1) (362-363)
5. Washington Wizards: 0-3 (-43) (321-364)

WEST GROUP A

1. Houston Rockets: 3-0 (+49) (343-294)
2. Portland Trail Blazers: 2-1 (-5) (325-330)
3. Minnesota Timberwolves: 2-2 (-13) (418-431)
4. LA Clippers: 1-2 (-6) (300-306)
5. Sacramento Kings: 0-3 (-25) (309-334)

WEST GROUP B

1. San Antonio Spurs: 2-1 (+14) (353-339)
2. Oklahoma City Thunder: 2-1 (+18) (304-286)
3. Phoenix Suns: 2-1 (+19) (330-311)
4. Los Angeles Lakers: 2-2 (-24) (437-461)
5. Utah Jazz: 0-3 (-27) (345-372)

WEST GROUP C

1. Golden State Warriors: 3-0 (+12) (355-343)
2. Dallas Mavericks: 2-1 (+41) (372-331)
3. Denver Nuggets: 1-2 (+2) (336-334)
4. Memphis Grizzlies: 1-2 (-6) (348-354)
5. New Orleans Pelicans: 1-3 (-49) (409-458)

Schedule for last night

Always east. Unless otherwise noted, games will be available on NBA League Pass (if no longer available) and through a channel in each local market.

There is a lot at stake for both teams

• Bucks at Pistons (7 p.m.)
• Magic at Knicks (7:30 p.m., TNT)
• Spurs at Suns (9 p.m.)

The Orlando-New York and Detroit-Milwaukee games are winner-take-all for East Groups A and B, respectively, and the winners will be the top two seeds and host games in the next round. The two losers will have a great chance of being the wild card, especially if one of them is Orlando. The Magic haven’t technically won yet, but they’ll at least be the wild card unless they lose by 33 points or more.

Boston can still clinch the East Wild Card after using a last-second timeout to hit a 3-pointer and erase its point difference in Chicago on Friday, but the Celtics need Orlando to beat New York and so that the Detroit-Milwaukee game is decided by at least six points (regardless of who wins). The Detroit-Milwaukee loser will still advance if Orlando beats New York, assuming it’s close enough that its lead remains over Boston’s plus-23. Right now, the Bucks are plus-29 and the Pistons are plus-28.

In West Group B, any of the three teams could win. San Antonio is your group winner if it beats Phoenix, but if the Spurs lose, it opens the door for Oklahoma City to take it by beating the Utah Jazz. The suns are in the most unfavorable place; They would have to beat San Antonio and the Thunder lose to the lowly Jazz to claim the group.

Another note: New York is the only team still participating in the NBA Cup, which is scheduled to play on December 9th. So the Knicks’ quarterfinal game will most likely be next Wednesday if they advance. That in turn means that the other East quarterfinal would take place on Tuesday if, as expected, there is an East-West doubleheader on those two evenings.

Other important games to watch

• Jazz at Thunder (8 p.m.)
• Grizzlies at Mavericks (8:30 p.m.)
• Warriors at Nuggets (10 p.m., TNT)
• Rockets at Kings (10 p.m.)
• Trail Blazers at Clippers (10:30 p.m.)

Each of these games involves Western teams, as the picture in the West is much less uniform.

Depending on what happens in the Suns-Spurs game, it may be difficult for either Oklahoma City or Phoenix to secure a wild card with a 3-1 record based on point difference unless Dallas loses to Memphis. Right now, the Suns are plus-19, the Thunder are plus-18 and Dallas, the second-place team in Group C, is plus-41. So if the Mavericks beat Memphis, they will likely be the West’s wild card.

Although Portland is still mathematically alive, it has a tougher path: The Blazers would have to win and Dallas and Oklahoma City would have to lose unless they beat the Clippers by at least 20 points on Tuesday, in which case they could potentially advance by just one Dallas defeat.

Finally, we still have a MAXIMUM CHAOS scenario where the Blazers, Thunder and Mavs all lose on Tuesday and the Wild Card comes down to tiebreakers between eight or nine teams tied at 2-2 (depending on whether Denver wins) . This scenario would likely favor Dallas, but Memphis, Denver, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and the Clippers all have opportunities to advance as 2-2 wild cards in this scenario.

Games with eliminated teams

• Wizards at Cavaliers (7 p.m.)
• 76ers at Hornets (7 p.m.)
• Pacers at Raptors (7:30 p.m.)

Remember: Each of these games (and those listed before them) also count toward the NBA regular season standings.

To check: This is how each group could be decided

East group A: If the Magic beat the Knicks, Orlando wins the group. If the Knicks beat the Magic, New York wins the group. If the Knicks lose to the Magic, New York will be eliminated from wild-card contention because its point differential would be less than Boston’s. If the Magic lose to the Knicks, they have a pretty big point differential buffer to clinch the East Wild Card. You just can’t lose by 30 or more to be safe.

East group B: What matters is the Pistons host the Bucks. Just like we all expected. The loser will have to hope the Magic beat the Knicks for a shot at the Wild Card while not falling below Boston’s point differential. The Bucks cannot lose by more than five points unless they score more than 148 points. The Pistons cannot lose by more than four points unless they score more than 142 points. If the Knicks beat the Magic, the Bucks-Pistons loser is probably out.

East group C: The Hawks won the bracket when the Celtics defeated the Bulls on Friday. While both teams are 3-1, Atlanta will take first place in the group thanks to its earlier win over Boston and secure the direct tiebreaker. Now Boston will have to wait for the Knicks-Magic and Bucks-Pistons results, as described above. (Another tiebreaker in the Celtics’ favor would be if they tied the wild card hopefuls on point differential and total points in group play: The final tiebreaker is last season’s regular season record.)

West Group A: The Rockets have already won the group, so the only question that remains is whether the Blazers or Clippers will have a chance at the West wild card. It’s a pretty complicated set of scenarios that would allow the Clippers to win the Wild Card at this point. The Blazers need to win against LA on Tuesday, and by a ton of points, while every other 2-1 team in the West is eliminated. The Rockets will likely be the top seed in the West in the single-elimination round barring a historic loss to the Kings on Tuesday.

West group B: Amazingly, a Spurs win against the Suns on Tuesday would definitely give them top spot in their group as they have already beaten the Thunder. The Suns beating the Spurs would only give Phoenix the bracket if the Thunder somehow lose to the Jazz. If Phoenix wins and the Thunder also win, the latter win the group, but Phoenix would be in line for the West wildcard spot depending on the points difference. If the Spurs win, OKC also has a chance at the Wild Card.

West group C: The Warriors won this bracket fairly easily, but could still be the No. 1 seed in the West bracket if they win and Houston loses, or if they both win and the Warriors somehow make up the 37-point difference in their current point differential. Similar to the Clippers mentioned above, there are ways for the Nuggets or Grizzlies to end up with the West wild card, but they are complicated.

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(Top photo: Candice Ward / Imagn Images)