Explanation of NBA rule changes for the 2024-25 season, including NBA Cup bracket format | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

The 2024-25 NBA season begins Tuesday night with the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics hosting the New York Knicks.

While there are some changes to be expected in the rankings compared to last season, there aren't many adjustments to the rules for the new season.

The NBA Cup will mark the first third of the season. The second part of the season tournament returns in the same format as last year's event, which was won by the Los Angeles Lakers.

The most important rule change for this season concerns the replay of out-of-bounds checks.

If an outside area review is triggered by a challenge by a coach, officials may consult with the video review center to see if a foul occurred near the outside area infraction.

The NBA laid out three factors to consider in this new rule when it announced in September.

The reviews will take into account whether the players involved in the unpunished foul are the same or different players than those involved in the out-of-bounds violation being reviewed. In addition, the time elapsed between the uncalled foul and the checked out-of-bounds violation is taken into account.

The NBA Cup will have a similar format to its debut last season.

The 30 NBA teams were drawn into six groups of five. There are three groups per conference. All group stage matches will be played on specific evenings from November 12th.

Eight teams will emerge from the group stage and play in the knockout rounds.

All six group winners automatically advance to the knockout rounds. The other two quarterfinalists will be a wild card team from each conference.

The second-place team with the best record in each conference completes the final eight.

The single-elimination quarterfinals will be played on December 10th and 11th at the home arena of the higher seeded team.

Las Vegas will host the semifinals on December 14th and the championship game on December 17th.