The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t play their first game in the NBA Cup’s group stage until they host the Chicago Bulls later this week. Unfortunately, the Cavs beating the Bulls in Chicago didn’t count toward Cleveland’s NBA Cup standings.

BOSTON -- Just one game into this year's NBA Cup, the Boston Celtics are already facing an uphill battle in their quest to make it to Las Vegas. The Celtics were completely outplayed by the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, and have a lot of work to do to simply make it to the Knockout round of the NBA's second annual in-season tournament.

The Boston Celtics fell to the Atlanta Hawks 117-116 Wednesday night at TD Garden. This was the first game for Boston in the 2024 NBA Cup. Boston will play four total games during Group Play of the tournament,