Tonight begins the first ever NBA In-Season Tournament. This inaugural tourney will consist of all 30 NBA teams competing in six separate groups until one team wins the NBA Cup.
Teams were randomly drawn within their conference based on win-loss record from last season; there are five teams in each group. The groups for this year’s tournament are:
- West Group A: Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailbazers, Utah Jazz
- West Group B: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans
- West Group C: Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings, San Anotonio Spurs
- East Group A: Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers
- East Group B: Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks Washington Wizards
- East Group C: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors
The first stage of the tournament is group play, where each team competes against all the other squads within their group. Tournament games will commence every Tuesday and Friday night from Nov. 3 to Nov. 28.
After all teams have played their group play games, eight teams will advance to the knockout round. Six of those eight teams will consist of the winners of each group. Each conference will also have a wildcard team that makes up the last two spots of the knockout round. This is essentially the second place team with the best record in each conference.
In the event of a tie in record for either the group winner or the final wild card spot, this is what the tiebreaker comes down too:
• Head-to-head record in the Group Stage (Not used for wild card)
• Point differential in the Group Stage
• Total points scored in the Group Stage
• Regular season record from the 2022-23 NBA regular season
• Random drawing
The eight teams remaining in the Knockout Round will face-off in a single elimination tournament. For the Quarterfinals, the home team will be the higher seeded competitor. The Semi-Finals and Finals will be hosted at a neutral site.
The Finals of the in-season will be held on Dec. 9 and will be the only game of the in-season tournament that DOES NOT count towards regular season standings. Teams that do not qualify for the knockout stage will play regular season games in place of their in-season tournament schedule; teams eliminated in the Quarterfinals will face off against each other.
Each team will also be sporting a court specially designed for the in-season tournament while also wearing their City Edition uniforms for the games.
The tournament kicks off with seven games tonight starting at 7 p.m. when the Indiana Pacers host the Cleveland Cavaliers.
JBJ Sports Talk 
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