The first-ever iteration of the NBA’s In-Season tournament is well and truly on, with group-stage games occurring from November 3rd to 28th. The tournament has 30 teams divided into a total of 6 groups. Each team gets 4 group stage games, 2 at home and 2 on the road. The group stage matches will count as part of the 82-game Regular Season for the teams.
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The same is true for the Quarterfinals and the Semi-Finals, which are set to start from December 4th. Currently, only the championship games, i.e., the Final, will not be part of the Regular Season. The Finals on December 9th will not have the stats, and records of player performances counted towards the Regular Season statistics.
That is not true for all other In-Season tournament matches, with those numbers being considered part of the Regular Season for all teams and players involved.
Hence, in a nutshell, it is only the Championship game that will not be counted towards the Regular Season. All other In-Season tournament games are going to be seen as a part of the Regular Season for all purposes involved. This means that players competing in these games have all the extra initiative to be at their best. Not only will their individual numbers be a part of their overall record for the Regular Season, but the tournament also has a huge prize pool.
The NBA has effectively tried to start its own tradition similar to how major Soccer leagues operate. In addition to the normal League, teams will have a chance of further glory by competing in the mid-season tournament.
The NBA In-Season Tournament Has a Unique Set of Rules
The In-Season tournament is effectively an entirely new concept never seen before in the league. The 30 teams have been divided into 6 groups based on their win-loss record from the 2022-23 season. Out of these 30 teams, 8 will qualify for the knockout stages.
These will be in the form of the group leaders, as well as two Wildcard entries with the best record among teams that finished 2nd in the group. If multiple teams fighting for the wild-card spot have the same record, the point differential would come into play.
The Quarter Finals would be hosted by the teams that finish at the top of the group. Both the semifinals and the Championship Final will take place in Las Vegas.
While the In-Season knockouts (quarters and semis) take place, the rest of the teams that have been knocked out will continue playing their Regular Season games despite the tournament.
