NBA Cup games in the group stage, the quarterfinal round and the semifinal round all count as regular season games. That means that teams who don't make the quarterfinal or semifinal actually have a couple new games added to their schedule to make sure everyone plays the same 82 games.

Last week, John Hollinger wondered in an article for The Athletic whether the crunch of the early-season schedule, which has been tweaked in recent years to designate several days in December exclusively for NBA Cup knockout games,

The NBA hit back at a prominent journalist who criticized the way the NBA Cup has seemingly increased the number of games.

With a current BetMGM win total over/under at 69.5 wins (-140 over/+115 under), Oklahoma City is currently favored to become the third 70-win team in NBA history. The -140 odds for “over 69.5” imply a more than 58 percent chance of getting there.

One of the NBA’s most dominant storylines is the influx of injuries, specifically calf strains to star players, such as Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum.

NBA Cup knockout stage games start on Dec. 9. So, who is playing for the in-season tournament title, and how will the games pan out?

Many of the league’s highest-paid players are getting hurt, and teams are on pace to rack up more than a half-billion dollars in lost productivity this season for their injured stars.

Calf strains are up this season, but time missed to calf strains is way up as teams are being more conservative.