2023-2024 NBA In-Season Tournament: What in the Soccer is This?!
Love it or Hate it, We’ve Got a New Thing Going in the NBA
Leave it to Adam Silver and the NBA owners to change things up in the association yet again. Despite passionate protests from fans, the NBA will roll out its In-Season Tournament. Borrowing from soccer or the WNBA, this tournament will be during the season and will have its own championship game. Like, what on earth is this 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament, and how does it work?
This Tournament Could Make the NBA Great Again
The W5H of the NBA In-Season Tournament
The 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament is the sparkling new addition to this coming season. In its essence, this will have a format similar to European soccer tournaments like the UEFA Champions League or the WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup. Here are the details:
🏀 NBA In-Season Tournament 🏀
Start Date:
End Date:
Days: Tuesdays and Fridays
Streaming: ESPN, ABC, NBA League Pass
All games in the tournament count towards the regular season, including the statistics. This is except for the title game, which will thus add one extra game for the two teams involved. The NBA player stats here will also not count towards the regular season.
Thus, the NBA game schedule outside the tournament was modified. Only 80 games for each team were announced prior to the season’s start. This gives flexibility with the 81st and 82nd schedule games occurring differently.
Format
This 2023 NBA-In Season Tournament will start in the group stage, which is divided similarly to the NBA’s existing divisions: six intraconference groups of five teams each. But the teams are shuffled based on last season’s NBA standings.
Currently, the groups are:
Western Conference | ||
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
 Memphis Grizzlies |  Denver Nuggets |  Sacramento Kings |
 Phoenix Suns |  LA Clippers |  Golden State Warriors |
 Los Angeles Lakers |  New Orleans Pelicans |  Minnesota Timberwolves |
 Utah Jazz |  Dallas Mavericks |  Oklahoma City Thunder |
 Portland Trail Blazers |  Houston Rockets |  San Antonio Spurs |
Eastern Conference | ||
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
 Philadelphia 76ers |  Milwaukee Bucks |  Boston Celtics |
 Cleveland Cavaliers |  New York Knicks |  Brooklyn Nets |
 Atlanta Hawks |  Miami Heat |  Toronto Raptors |
 Indiana Pacers |  Washington Wizards |  Chicago Bulls |
 Detroit Pistons |  Charlotte Hornets |  Orlando Magic |
Each team plays each other in a round-robin format. Each conference’s three group winners, plus a wild card team (runner-up with the best standing), advance to the knockout stage: a single-elimination tournament that rewards each team’s players based on their results.
The champion team each receives $500,000, with the runners-up receiving $200,000, and the semifinalists get $100,000. The quarterfinalists each get $50,000.
The semifinals and finals will be played in Las Vegas.
Who’s Winning The Tournament?
The odds for the outright winner of this 2023 NBA-In Season Tournament are similar to the NBA Championship odds but with a slight twist: Boston is favored at +600 over Denver at +700. Following that, it’s Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Golden State at 11-1. These are also five favorites to win the NBA title, per the sportsbook.
Given that it’s a new format and single elimination, there is greater potential for upsets here. Thus, this is the place for some wild NBA predictions and maybe even more fantastic outcomes.
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