NBA announces schedule for inaugural In-Season Tournament

  • August 15, 2023
  • By Press Release
  • Category: Pelicans
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Luka Doncic, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones
Mar 8, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) drives to the basket against New Orleans Pelicans forward Herbert Jones (5) during the first half at Smoothie King Center (Photo: Stephen Lew).

NEW ORLEANS – The National Basketball Association today announced schedule dates for the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, a new annual competition for all 30 teams that will debut in the 2023-24 regular 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 Tournament consists of two stages: Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.

All 30 teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2022-23 regular 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 In-Season Tournament Schedule – West Group B

DATE DAY OPPONENT LOCATION TIME (CT)
Nov. 10 Fri. at Houston Rockets Toyota Center (Houston, TX) 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 14 Tue. vs. Dallas Mavericks Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, LA) 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 17 Fri. vs. Denver Nuggets Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, LA) 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 24 Fri. at LA Clippers Crypto.com Arena (Los Angeles, CA) 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.

More details about the NBA In-Season Tournament’s format and rules can be found here.

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