ORLANDO - The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced the schedule for the NBA In- Season Tournament, a new annual competition for all 30 teams that will debut in the 2023-24 regular season.
The inaugural In-Season Tournament will tip off on Friday, Nov. 3 in NBA team markets and culminate with the playing of the Semifinals (Thursday, Dec. 7) and Championship (Saturday, Dec. 9) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The In-Season Tournament will consist of two stages: Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.
Orlando’s In-Season Tournament Group Play games are Tuesday, Nov. 14 @ Brooklyn (7:30 p.m. ET), Friday, Nov. 17 @ Chicago (8 p.m. ET), Tuesday, Nov. 21 vs. Toronto (7 p.m. ET) and Friday, Nov. 24 vs. Boston (2:30 p.m. ET).
Tickets for Orlando’s two home In-Season Tournament Games will go on sale on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 3 p.m. Orlando Magic ticket plans and suites are on sale now. Single-game tickets for the remainder of the 2023-24 season will go on sale on Friday, Aug. 25 at 1 p.m. The Magic fan favorite, Fast Break Monthly Pass, is back once again and includes three or more games each month for only $49. Learn more at OrlandoMagic.com/FastBreak. For exclusive pre-sale access and more information, visit OrlandoMagic.com or call 407-89-MAGIC.
Group Play: All 30 teams have been 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.
Group Play Draw: To determine each team’s opponents in the Group Play games, the 15 teams in each conference were divided into three groups of five teams via a random drawing.
Before the drawing, each team was placed into a “pot” based on its record from the prior regular season (2022- 23). In each conference, one team from each pot was randomly selected into each of the three groups in that conference. The pots were as follows:
- Pot 1: The teams with the three best prior-season records in a conference.
- Pot 2: The teams with the fourth- through sixth-best prior-season records.
- Pot 3: The teams with the seventh- through ninth-best prior-season records.
- Pot 4: The teams with the 10th- through 12th-best prior-season records.
- Pot 5: The teams with the 13th- through 15th-best prior-season records.
Knockout Rounds: 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.
In each conference, Quarterfinal games will be hosted by the two teams with the best record in Group Play games, and the team with the best record in Group Play games will host the wild card team.
During the Knockout Rounds on days when In-Season Tournament games are not scheduled (Wednesday, Dec. 6 and Friday, Dec. 8), the 22 teams that do not qualify for the Knockout Rounds will each play two regular season games. The four teams that lose in the Quarterfinals will each play a regular season game on Dec. 8.
Prize Pool: For the 2023-24 season, the In-Season Tournament prize pool will be allocated to the players on the teams that participate in the Knockout Rounds as follows:
· Players on winning team of Championship: $500,000 each
· Players on losing team of Championship: $200,000 each
· Players on losing team of Semifinals: $100,000 each
· Players on losing team of Quarterfinals: $50,000 each
League Honors: At the conclusion of the In-Season Tournament, the NBA will name the Most Valuable Player of the In-Season Tournament and the All-Tournament Team. Selection will be based on the players’ performance in both Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.
For more information about the NBA In-Season Tournament, visit NBA.com/inseasontournament or the NBA App.
2023 ORLANDO MAGIC NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
GROUP PLAY
Nov. 14 @Brooklyn 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 17 @Chicago 8 p.m.
Nov. 21 TORONTO 7 p.m.
Nov. 24 BOSTON 2:30 p.m.