NBA Odds: What is the in-season tournament and how does it work?

The NBA is mixing things up for the 2023-24 season as they prepare for the first-ever in-season tournament.

A pet project for NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the in-season tournament is an attempt to establish something similar to a European soccer tournament. Think the Champions League. All 30 teams will take part in the tournament and games will count in the regular season standings, with the 82-game schedule remaining.

Here’s everything you need to know about the NBA’s in-season tournament.

Don’t forget to check out our complete list of NBA game odds, NBA specials and props and NBA futures.

How does the NBA’s in-season tournament work?

Group stage:

• All 30 NBA teams have been seeded and sorted into six groups (three per conference) of five teams. Each conference sorted the teams into five pots based based on last year’s regular season standings and a draw determined the groups, similar to how the FIFA World Cup works.
• Each team plays four games in the group stage (two home, two away) against teams within its group. All group stage games are held Tuesdays and Fridays in November and they will also count toward the regular season standings.

Knockout stage:

• The top team in each group advances to the knockout stage. The best team in each conference to not win their group will advance as a wild card, leaving eight teams for the knockout stage. The remaining 22 teams will have games added to their schedules to ensure they play 82.
• Quarterfinal games are played on December 4 and 5, with locations determined by the group stage results.
• The semifinal games will be played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 7.
• The championship game will be played at T-Mobile Arena on December 9.
• Quarterfinal and semifinal games count in the standings, but the championship game does not. Statistics from the championship game are not applied to regular season totals.
• Each player on the NBA Cup championship team will earn $500,000, while members of the runner-up team earn $200,000.

Tiebreaker format

In the event that two or more teams have equal records at the end of group stage play, the following tiebreakers will be applied in this order:

1. Head-to-head record in group stage
2. Point differential in group stage
3. Total points scored in group stage
4. Regular season record from 2022-23
5. Random drawing

Eastern Conference

*(Tournament seed based on last year’s regular season standings)

Western Conference

*(Tournament seed based on last year’s regular season standings)