NBA In-season tournament

The NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament kicked off last November 3 in brightly painted courts and will end on December 9 with the title game to be played in Las Vegas.  Like in FIFA, all 30 teams are divided into six groups where they play four games, with the top eight teams advancing to the single knockout stage.   Teams will debut the city edition uniforms in this tournament.

Teams from the two conferences were randomly drawn into groups of five.  The six group winners advance to the knockout rounds.  Two wild card teams will be picked, one from each conference.  A wild card is a team from each conference that has the best record in the group stage but did not win the group.

Games at the group stage, quarters and semis will count as regular season games.  The title game won’t count as regular season games.

Tournament games will only be played on Tuesdays and Fridays.   Quarterfinals will be played on December 4 and 5 on the top seed’s home court then it moves to Las Vegas for the semis on December 7 with the championship on December 9.

As of this writing, the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks have yet to play their first tournament game.

Group winners and wild card teams are decided on their win-loss records but in case of ties, a series of tie breakers will be used:

•Head-to-head record in group stage

•Points differential in group stage

•Total points in group stage

•Regular season record from last season

•If somehow two teams are still tied after the above options, there will be random drawing.

Tournament winner will get a new trophy, the NBA Cup.  An In-Season Tournament MVP will be named and an all-tournament team selection made.

The longer the team survives the tournament, the more money the players earn.  Here’s the payout:

•Team players losing in the quarters - $50,000.

•Team players losing in the semis - $100,000.

•Team players losing in the finals - $200,000.

•Team players winning the championship - $500,000.

Yes, just like the FIFA World Cup set-up.