NBA announces details of inaugural In-Season Tournament
Miami placed in East Group B along with four other teams.
Details have been released for the brand new NBA In-Season Tournament that is set to kick off on Friday, Nov. 3 with all 30 teams competing for the NBA Cup during the 2023-24 regular season.
The tournament will have two stages with group play games played at home and away as well as knockout rounds that will be played in Las Vegas starting Thursday, Dec. 7. The 67 games across both stages of the tournament will count toward the regular-season standings, except for the Championship game on Saturday, Dec. 9.
“We are excited to introduce the NBA In-Season Tournament as an opportunity to further enhance and innovate around our season structure,” said Joe Dumars, NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations, on the NBA’s official press release. “With the addition of this new marquee event on the NBA calendar, we are focused on providing players and teams with another competition to win, engaging fans in a different way and driving further interest in the early portion of the regular-season schedule.”
All 30 NBA teams have been randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from last season. The Miami Heat are in the East Group B along with the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets.
Below is the complete list:
Group 1: Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons
Group 2: Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets
Group 3: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic
Group 4: Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers
Group 5: Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets
Group 6: Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs
During group play, each team will play four games — one game against each team in their group with two games played at home and two on the road. These games will be played on “Tournament Nights” every Tuesday and Thursday from Nov. 3-28 (except for Election Day on Nov. 7) and those will be the only NBA games played on those nights.
Eight teams will advance to the knockout rounds, the six teams with the best records in each group along with two wild-card teams who finished second in their group but had the next best records. These games will be single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals (played in NBA team markets on Monday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 5) and the Semifinals and Championship games will be played in Las Vegas. The 22 teams that do not qualify for the knockout rounds will each play two regular-season games on Wednesday, Dec. 6 and Friday, Dec. 8. The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals will each play a regular-season game on Dec. 8.
Fourteen group play games (two on each Tournament Night) as well as all seven knockout round games will be nationally televised (the broadcast schedule will be released in August).
Teams will be competing not just for the new NBA Cup but also a prize pool. There will also be an MVP winner based on players’ performances in both group play and knockout rounds.
Players on winning team of Championship: $500,000 each
Players on losing team of Championship: $200,000 each
Players on losing team of Semifinals: $100,000 each
Players on losing team of Quarterfinals: $50,000 each
Tickets and NBA Experiences for the Semifinals and Championship will be available at NBAEvents.com, with premium experiences on sale now and individual game tickets available on Monday, July 10.
For more information about the NBA In-Season Tournament, visit NBA.com/inseasontournament or the NBA App.
As we head into Monday morning, we're probably due for another round of Dame Rumors.
If the rumors say that the Blazers are in no rush to trade Dame and no significant talks have happened yet, then we can assume the Heat are still the frontrunner.
If the say a specific team has stepped into the negotiations with a significant offer, then the Heat might be in trouble, because it means the Blazers are trying to send him somewhere else.
If the rumors are different teams showing interest in Duncan or Martin, then this is probably a done deal and they're just working out the details.
I'm going to go on record and say I'm the biggest fan of the in-season tournament. Even if it isn't great the first time around, I really hope it can be something fun, because right now I really don't watch the NBA until the playoffs. And it's not because I don't care. It's because the stars don't care about playing on TNT Thursday night the way the used to, and my local team is tanking, and it's not as easy to watch games as it used to be, and it's just not worth it to pay extra to watch regular season basketball. So I hope the in-season tourney gives me a reason to watch the NBA in December.
Also, I hope the Heat get off to a slow start, then Beat the Bucks and Knicks in the tourney, just to remind everyone that it doesn't matter what the regular season record is, the Heat are the best team in the East