NBA In-Season Tournament 2023: What You Need to Know

Taylor Pipes | October 26, 2023

Taking a nod from the Beautiful Game, the National Basketball Association season tipped off this week with a new addition – The NBA In-Season Tournament.

The NBA In-Season Tournament is an inaugural annual competition that will debut this season. All 30 teams will participate, playing regular-season games that count towards the season's standings. The knockout round's semifinals and finals will be played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 9th.

The idea of an in-season tournament has been discussed for years, and the NBA has finally decided to implement it. The tournament aims to add excitement to the regular season and provide fans with more meaningful games. It also offers teams an opportunity to compete for a separate trophy and prize money.

The format and rules of the tournament have been carefully crafted to ensure that it does not affect the importance of the regular season. The tournament will consist of a group stage followed by a knockout round. The teams will be divided into six groups, with each team playing two games against the other teams in their group. The top two teams from each group and the two best third-placed teams will advance to the knockout round.

Here are all the details you’ll need to know about the tournament, its format, the schedule, and where you can buy tickets to the best matches of the tournament.

Buckle up, the tourney begins November 3, 2023! Get your tickets here at Event Tickets Center to get in on the action!

Participating Teams

The NBA In-Season Tournament 2023 will feature 30 teams – all the squads in the NBA, divided into six groups of five teams.

Meet East Group A

Meet East Group B

Meet East Group C

Meet West Group A

Meet West Group B

Meet West Group C

Tournament Format & Structure

The NBA In-Season Tournament 2023 will feature all 30 teams competing for the NBA Cup. The tournament will be divided into two stages: Group Play and Knockout Rounds.

Every NBA team has been randomly selected into five groups broken down by conference - Eastern and Western. Each team was put into a pot based on their record of wins and losses from last season. One team from each pot was randomly chosen and put into one of the three groups representing their conference.

Group Play begins Nov. 3 and continues through Nov. 28 with each team playing four games on tournament evenings – Tuesday or Friday. Each team gets two games at home and two on the road.

Eight teams advance to the Knockout Rounds – the team with the best standing in Group Play from each group and two wild cards defined as the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group. Knockout games will be the point where single-elimination play begins.

Each team will play two games within their group during the group stage, with the top team from each group advancing to the knockout stage. The knockout stage will consist of single-elimination games until the championship game, which will be held on December 23, 2023.

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 one “wild card” team from each conference. The wild card will be the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group.

All participating teams are expected to field their best players for the tournament, as the winning team will receive a prize of $500,000 per player. The tournament is seen as a way to add excitement to the regular season and provide additional opportunities for teams to compete for a championship.

In addition, there are some big financial rewards on the line for players and teams:

Players on the team hoisting the NBA Cup will each receive $500,000. Players on the losing team will each get $200,000. Players on a losing semi-final squad get $100,000 while those on losing quarterfinals teams will get $50,000 each.

Additional Tournament Details

Several fascinating details have helped build what the NBA hopes will be a successful shake-up of the regular season.

Games were scheduled on Tuesdays and Fridays to avoid any conflict with the NFL.
TV rights are in place to make this tournament a thing for the next 8 or 9 years with ABC, ESPN, and TNT.
To juggle this newly formatted tournament and team schedule, only 80 NBA games have been announced. The first two rounds of the elimination portion of the NBA In-Season Tournament will be part of NBA games 81 and 82.
A finals game will be an extra 83rd game, but will not count toward the NBA regular season.
Teams that lose in the opening round or do not qualify for the elimination tournament will be scheduled for two additional games to reach 82, to be announced later.

Group Breakdown

The 30 teams have been randomly drawn into six groups of five teams each. Each team will play two games against each of the other teams in their group, for a total of eight games per team. The Group Play stage will take place from November 3 to December 3.

Advancement System

The top two teams from each group will advance to the Knockout Rounds, for a total of 12 teams. In case of a tie, the team with the best point differential will advance. If the point differential is tied, a random drawing will determine which team advances.

The Knockout Rounds will consist of single-elimination games, with the top four teams receiving a bye in the first round. The Quarterfinals will take place on December 4 -5, the Semifinals on December 7, and the Championship on December 9.

Winner Decided

The winner of the tournament will be decided in the Championship game on December 9. The team with the best record in the tournament will have a home-court advantage in the Championship game. If two teams have the same record, the tiebreaker will be a head-to-head record. If three or more teams have the same record, the tiebreaker will be a point differential in games involving the tied teams.

Overall, the NBA In-Season Tournament 2023 promises to be an exciting addition to the NBA season, with teams competing for the chance to win the NBA Cup and bragging rights as the best team in the tournament.

Tournament Schedule

The NBA In-Season Tournament is set to debut during the 2023-24 season, with all 30 teams participating in the tournament. The tournament will begin with a group stage, followed by a knockout round.

The NBA released the complete game schedule and national television matchups for the Group Play of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. The Group Play will consist of 36 games over 10 days, with each team playing three games. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout round, which will be held in Las Vegas.

The knockout round will consist of two rounds of single-elimination games, with the semifinals and finals being held on December 9th at T-Mobile Arena. The winner of the tournament will receive a prize pool of $1 million per player.

The tournament schedule is designed to minimize the impact on the regular-season schedule, with teams playing their Group Stage games during two weeks in November. The knockout round will be held over four days in December, with teams receiving a break before and after the tournament.

The NBA hopes that the In-Season Tournament will generate excitement and interest during the regular season, while also providing teams with an opportunity to compete for a significant prize pool. The tournament schedule is designed to ensure that the regular season remains the primary focus of the NBA, while also providing fans with an exciting new competition to follow.

Most Hyped Games of the Tourney

We’ve poured through the games and these are the hottest tickets over the next few weeks in matchups featuring some of the league’s premier teams:

Warriors vs. Thunder (Nov. 3) - Paycom Arena

Nets vs. Celtics (Nov. 10) - TD Garden

Lakers vs. Suns (Nov. 10) - Footprint Center

Celtics vs. Raptors (Nov. 17) - Scotiabank Center

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the format of the NBA in-season tournament?

The NBA in-season tournament consists of two rounds: Group Play and Knockout Play. All 30 teams have been randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on won-loss records from the 2022-23 regular season. Each team will play four games in Group Play, facing each team in their group once. The top two teams from each group will advance to Knockout Play, which will feature a single-elimination tournament.

How many games are played in the NBA in-season tournament?

Each team will play a total of four games during Group Play, and the number of games played during Knockout Play will depend on how far a team advances in the tournament.

What is the location of the NBA in-season tournament?

The location of the NBA in-season tournament will feature the home venues of NBA teams with the exception of the Semifinals and Championship which will take place at T-Mobile Arena.

What is the prize for winning the NBA in-season tournament?

The prize for winning the NBA in-season tournament will be a prize pool given to players and teams that make it to Knockout Rounds, and increase depending on how far they go in the tourney.