NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers’ defense of the NBA Cup title will begin on Nov. 15 in San Antonio against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, and Klay Thompson will be back at Golden State — as a visitor with Dallas — on Nov. 12.
The NBA released the schedule of the group play games on Tuesday, with those contests getting played on a series of Tuesdays and Fridays starting Nov. 12 and ending Dec. 3. Each team was assigned to a five-team group and plays the other four clubs in that group once.
LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers went 7-0 in the tournament last season — when it was simply called the In-Season Tournament — and beat the Indiana Pacers in the final in Las Vegas. The semifinals and finals return to Las Vegas this year, with the semis on Dec. 14 and the title game on Dec. 17.
The NBA Cup will provide some obvious storylines. Among them: Thompson going back to Golden State, where he helped the Warriors win four titles, after joining the Mavericks this summer. And then the Lakers open defense of the Cup title, it'll be a game where James and Davis face Wembanyama again after helping the U.S. beat France in the gold-medal game at the Paris Olympics.
Almost all of the games for the 2024-25 NBA season will be released Thursday. All games in the NBA Cup will count in the regular-season standings except for the title game in Las Vegas; that would be an 83rd game for both of those teams, which doesn’t fit into an 82-game season.
Teams will get schedules Thursday with 80 games on them. Every team will play two more, either in the playoffs of the NBA Cup or in games scheduled between teams that did not make the tournament quarterfinals. And those teams that lose in the quarterfinals will meet for what essentially becomes the 82nd game on their schedule for the coming season.
There will be 60 group-stage games in all — eight games on Nov. 12, then 12 on Nov. 15, six on Nov. 19, eight on Nov. 22, five on Nov. 26, 10 on Nov. 29 and the final 11 on Dec. 3.
Each NBA team will play four designated group play games — one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two games on the road. The four group winners will make the quarterfinals, along with one wild-card team from each conference. That wild-card club will be the best second-place team from each conference.
Nov. 12: New York at Philadelphia; Charlotte at Orlando.
Nov. 15: Brooklyn at New York; Philadelphia at Orlando.
Nov. 19: Charlotte at Brooklyn.
Nov. 22: Brooklyn at Philadelphia.
Nov. 29: New York at Charlotte; Orlando at Brooklyn.
Dec. 3: Philadelphia at Charlotte; Orlando at New York.
Nov. 12: Miami at Detroit; Toronto at Milwaukee.
Nov. 15: Miami at Indiana; Detroit at Toronto.
Nov. 22: Indiana at Milwaukee.
Nov. 26: Milwaukee at Miami.
Nov. 29: Toronto at Miami; Detroit at Indiana.
Dec. 3: Milwaukee at Detroit; Indiana at Toronto.
Nov. 12: Atlanta at Boston.
Nov. 15: Chicago at Cleveland; Washington at Atlanta.
Nov. 19: Cleveland at Boston.
Nov. 22: Atlanta at Chicago; Boston at Washington.
Nov. 26: Chicago at Washington.
Nov. 29: Boston at Chicago; Cleveland at Atlanta.
Dec. 3: Washington at Cleveland.
Nov. 12: Minnesota at Portland.
Nov. 15: Minnesota at Sacramento; L.A. Clippers at Houston.
Nov. 22: Sacramento at L.A. Clippers; Portland at Houston.
Nov. 26: Houston at Minnesota.
Nov. 29: L.A. Clippers at Minnesota; Sacramento at Portland.
Dec. 3: Houston at Sacramento; Portland at L.A. Clippers.
Nov. 12: Phoenix at Utah.
Nov. 15: L.A. Lakers at San Antonio; Phoenix at Oklahoma City.
Nov. 19: Oklahoma City at San Antonio; Utah at L.A. Lakers.
Nov. 26: L.A. Lakers at Phoenix; San Antonio at Utah.
Nov. 29: Oklahoma City at L.A. Lakers.
Dec. 3: Utah at Oklahoma City; San Antonio at Phoenix.
Nov. 12: Dallas at Golden State.
Nov. 15: Denver at New Orleans; Memphis at Golden State.
Nov. 19: Denver at Memphis; New Orleans at Dallas.
Nov. 22: Dallas at Denver; Golden State at New Orleans.
Nov. 29: New Orleans at Memphis.
Dec. 3: Memphis at Dallas; Golden State at Denver.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
United States' Coco Gauff and Lebron James travel along the Seine River in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis,Pool)
LeBron James wearing his gold medal is seen during a women's gold medal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets Friday, a day after the militant group’s leader vowed to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said.
Israel’s military said the rockets came in three waves Friday afternoon targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.
Israel's military said it carried out a “targeted strike” on Beirut on Friday afternoon. It offered no further immediate details, but explosions could be heard from the city’s southern suburbs.
In Gaza, Palestinian authorities said 15 people were killed overnight in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children.
Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. They have come close to a full-blown war on several occasions.
Here's the latest:
Israel carried out what its military called a “targeted strike” on Beirut on Friday afternoon.
It offered no further immediate details, but explosions could be heard from the city’s southern suburbs.
Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV reported that a drone fired several missiles on the heavily-populated area known as Dahiyeh.
Hezbollah told The Associated Press that an airstrike struck the area without giving further details.
The strike came after Hezbollah pounded Israel with 140 rockets earlier Friday and tensions threaten to spill into all-out war.
Palestinian authorities say 15 people were killed overnight in the Gaza Strip in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
In Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza City, another person was killed and several others injured when a vehicle was hit by an Israeli strike, the Civil Defense said.
Late Thursday, six more people were killed in a strike that hit a home in the center of Gaza City, while another was killed in Beit Lahya, north of Gaza City.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
Israel's foreign ministry said Friday it submitted two legal briefs in response to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against the country's leaders.
The court’s prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other Hamas leaders. One of them was since assassinated in what was believed to be an Israeli strike.
The foreign ministry said it has submitted two legal briefs challenging the court’s jurisdiction to arrest Israeli leaders and claiming the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate itself before requesting the warrants.
“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” wrote Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein on the social media platform X. He said Israel remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.
Israel is not a party to the court. Rights groups say the country has struggled to investigate itself in the past. Netanyahu has brushed off calls for a state investigation into the failings that led to the Oct. 7 attack.
BAGHDAD — A leader of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia was killed Friday in a strike in Syria, a war monitor and a militia official said.
Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group — which is different from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — said in a statement that Abu Haidar al-Khafaji was killed “while performing his duties as a security advisor in Damascus.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported that a leader in Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group was killed and another person injured in a drone strike on the car they were traveling in on the road to the Damascus airport.
An official with an Iraqi militia confirmed that a car carrying a group of militia members was struck in Damascus, killing one person and injuring three others. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
There was no comment from Israeli officials on the strike. Israel frequently strikes Iranian and Iran-linked groups in Syria but rarely acknowledges the strikes.
Tensions have heightened in the region following a wave of apparently remotely detonated explosions in Lebanon targeting pagers and walkie talkies belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah. The attacks, widely blamed on Israel, which has not commented on them, killed at least 37 people - including two children - and wounded about 3,000.
— By Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad
BEIRUT — Israel’s military killed two Hezbollah members who were planting explosives along the border over the weekend, Israel’s military and an official with a Lebanese group said.
The official with a Lebanese group said the two members of the militant group were killed Sunday and their bodies were taken by Israeli troops because they were too close to the fence along the tense frontier. The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
On Thursday, Israel’s military released a video it said was taken by one of the fighters showing the militants coming under fire. The military said that the two fighters were killed by Israeli troops as they tried to plant an improvised explosive device near a military post.
In the days following the tense border interaction, thousands of devices exploded in different parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing 37 people and wounding around 3,000 others. The attack was blamed on Israel, and many of those killed or injured were members of Hezbollah.
Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of their comrade who was killed when a handheld device exploded, during a funeral procession in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Right-wing Israelis with relatives held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and their supporters, rally against a hostage deal, in Jerusalem, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. The placard in Hebrew reads: " To bathe in his blood." (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Houses are engulfed in fire as the Israeli army raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians duck for cover as the Israeli army raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya on Thursday, Sept.19, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
FILE - Hezbollah fighters carry one of the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
