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Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors reacts after blowing a lead late in the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Chase Center on November 1, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Getty images via AFP)
WASHINGTON – The NBA In-Season Tournament, a new 30-team World Cup-style event, debuts Friday with players gunning for another title even as they continue the regular season into its sixth month.
NBA clubs were placed into six groups of five teams, and each team will play a total of four tournament games on Tuesdays and Fridays in November to determine six group winners, plus two wild-card qualifiers for the quarterfinals on December 4 and 5.
The NBA’s final four teams head to Las Vegas for the semifinals on December 7 and the championship game on December 9.
The tournament’s 67 games, excluding the championship game, all count toward the regular season standings.
“With the addition of this new marquee event to the NBA calendar, we are focused on giving players and teams a new competition to win, engaging fans in a different way and generating further interest in the first part of the regular season season schedule. NBA vice president Joe Dumars said.
Reactions were mixed, with Memphis guard Marcus Smart calling out the NBA Cup: “To be honest, no one cares. It’s the big one we care about.”
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says it’s a new outlet for ultra-competitive players and notes it could be a harbinger of what’s to come when the NBA playoffs begin in April.
“It’s exciting for everyone,” Popovich said. “All these guys are very competitive. Putting something like that out there just adds to that competitiveness and really indicates what could happen towards the end of the season.”
Teams will wear special tournament uniforms and play on uniquely painted courts for those matches in an effort to brighten up the early season, especially for clubs who may not compete for the entire campaign but can get hot for a month.
“Traditions don’t happen overnight,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.
The event is likely to be a boost to rights fees as discussions on new broadcast contracts begin.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Players Nikola Jokic of reigning NBA champion Denver and Giannis Antetokounmpo will be on the court for the opening night of the tournament competition.
Friday’s group stage openers find Dallas at Denver, Golden State at Oklahoma City and Memphis at Portland in the West with New York at Milwaukee, Washington at Miami, Brooklyn at Chicago and Cleveland at Indiana in the East.
Randomly drawn Eastern Conference groups include Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana and Philadelphia in Group A; Milwaukee, New York, Miami, Washington and Charlotte in Group B and Boston, Toronto, Orlando, Chicago and Brooklyn in Group C.
Western Conference groups include Utah, Memphis, Portland, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Lakers in Group A; Denver, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Clippers in Group B and Oklahoma City, Golden State, Sacramento, Minnesota and San Antonio in Group C.