NEW ORLEANS — The schedule of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament was released on Tuesday. The National Basketball Association announced the dates for all-new competition, which includes all 30 teams in the upcoming 2023-24 season.
The In-Season Tournament tips off on Friday, Nov. 3 in NBA team markets and culminates with the Semifinals (Thursday, Dec. 7) and Championship (Saturday, Dec. 9) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The in-season tourney will consist of two stages, Group Play and the Knockout Round.
According to the NBA, teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from last season.
Each team will play four designated Group Play games – one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two on the road – on “Tournament Nights,” which will take place every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 3-28 (with the exception of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when no games will be played). The only NBA games played on Tournament Nights will be Group Play games.
The New Orleans Pelicans, selected to West Group B, will match up against the Dallas Mavericks (home), Denver Nuggets (home), Houston Rockets (away) and LA Clippers (away) in Group Play.
New Orleans Pelicans — West Group B
- Fri., Nov. 10 - at Houston Rockets - 7 p.m.
- Tue., Nov. 14 - Dallas Mavericks - 7 p.m.
- Fri., Nov. 17 - Denver Nuggets - 7 p.m.
- Fri.., Nov. 24 - at L.A. Clippers - 9:30 p.m.
Broadcast information for the Pelicans’ In-Season Tournament games will be announced at a later date.
Upon completion of Group Play, eight teams will advance to the Knockout Rounds: the team with the best standing in Group Play games in each of the six groups and two “wild cards” (the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group). The Knockout Rounds will consist of single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals (played in NBA team markets on Monday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 5) and Semifinals and Championship (played in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9, respectively). The Knockout teams will compete for a prize pool and the new In-Season Tournament trophy, the NBA Cup.
Each of the 22 teams that do not advance to the Quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament will be assigned two regular-season games (one home game and one away game) that will be played on Wednesday, Dec. 6 and Friday, Dec. 8.
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