New York, Nov 2 (EFE).- The NBA launches the NBA In-Season Tournament this Friday, the first attempt by the most prestigious basketball league on the planet to experiment with the cup format in the middle of the regular season.
This is the big news for the NBA for this 2023-2024 campaign that has just begun and one of Adam Silver’s most important bets since he became commissioner of the league.
The NBA has scheduled seven games for this opening day of its cup with very succulent duels such as a face to face between Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic (Denver Nuggets-Dallas Mavericks), a clash between the veteran Golden State Warriors and the thriving Oklahoma City Thunder or the visit of the New York Knicks to the fearsome Milwaukee Bucks of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
This new tournament will be played annually in November and December and will take into account regular season matches before being resolved in a single-match elimination phase.
In this way, the results of those seven opening games will count for both the regular phase and the NBA In-Season Tournament.
The first dispute for the NBA Cup, which is the trophy that the champion will take home, will be played from November 3 to December 9, 2023
Las Vegas will host the semifinals and the final (all in a single match) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (USA) with a “final four” scheme from December 7 to 9.
Before arriving in the city of the game, the 30 NBA teams have been divided into six groups of five taking into account their results from last season:
– Group A of the East: Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons.
– Grupo B del Este: Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards y Charlotte Hornets.
– Grupo C del Este: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls y Orlando Magic.
– Group A of the West: Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers.
– Grupo B del Oeste: Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks y Houston Rockets.
– Group C of the West: Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.
Throughout November, each team will play four matches on ‘Tournament Nights’. Subsequently, the top six from each group and two ‘wild cards’ (the best runners-up from each conference) will meet in the quarterfinals (December 4 and 5).
From there, the four surviving teams will play for the title in Las Vegas.
With this cup, the NBA aspires to relaunch and revitalize a regular season of 82 games in which there are many games in which there is practically nothing at stake.
In addition, the players will have an incentive in the form of a financial prize since the members of the champion team will each pocket half a million dollars.
Overcoming the group stage will also have recognition: those who lose the final will pocket 200,000 dollars each, those who fall in the semifinals will win 100,000 each and those who say goodbye in the quarterfinals will take a check for 50,000. EFE
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2023-11-02 18:36:27
#NBA #debuts #cup