Seven elimination games are coming in the next six days.

The last three of them in Vegas, with the first-ever NBA Cup going to the In-Season Tournament champs.

Welcome to the Knockout Rounds. Let’s make a little history together.

THE LINEUP 🏀

1. 🏆 The Quarterfinals, Explained
2. 🏀 Celtics at Pacers, 7:30 ET, TNT
3. 🏀 Pelicans at Kings, 10 ET, TNT
4. 🔭 Tuesday’s 2 Quarterfinals
5. 🎥 Race For The NBA Cup Binge Watch

🏆 In-Season Tournament Hub

🎤 Mic’d Up: Tatum (BOS), Turner (IND)

🎤 Mic’d Up: Sabonis (SAC)

1. WIN-OR-GO-HOME KNOCKOUT ROUNDS, EXPLAINED

The Bracket Begins: The first-ever Quarterfinals of the Knockout Rounds tip off tonight on TNT.

Four teams will battle for the first two spots in the semifinals (tipping Thursday) – with two more Quarterfinals coming tomorrow.

• Single elimination: Every Tournament game from now on will be win-or-go-home. Game 7 vibes from here on out
• Who’s playing?: The Pacers and the Celtics in the early game tonight, and the Pelicans and Kings in the nightcap. The Knicks & Bucks meet Tuesday, followed by Lakers-Suns. Same times, same channel
• Vegas anyone?: While the quarters take place at the higher seeds’ home courts, the semifinals (Dec. 7 on ESPN & TNT) and championship (Dec. 9 on ABC) will tip off at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
• The prize: The champs will be the first team to hoist the new NBA Cup, and win a share of the prize pool
• Remember: All but the championship will count as regular season games, both in league standings and final stats

New format, longtime rivals: While all eight teams will be playing in the first-ever Knockout Rounds, a few of the matchups come loaded up with some history of their own, writes NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner.

• That includes Tuesday night’s showdown between LeBron James’ Lakers & Kevin Durant’s Suns, with Durant and James set to meet for the 38th time – and second time in the In-Season Tournament. More on that below
• Each Quarterfinal game features teams who’ve already met once (or more) this season. Because of that, each pair of teams will now face off five times this year — the first time since 2003-04 that teams will meet a fifth time in the regular season

What else?

• Four Top 10 scorers: Durant (2nd in the NBA in scoring), De’Aaron Fox (4th), Giannis (5th) and Jayson Tatum (9th) have all reached the quarters. The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, who’s listed as questionable, leads the league in assists
• Early awards season: The first In-Season Tournament MVP  that covers the entire tournament will be crowned after the championship game — along with the first All-Tournament Team. Here’s the latest list of Matt Peterson’s top MVP candidates on NBA.com
• Group Play highlights: Wind back the last month and check out the best plays from the first stage of the Tournament

2. PACERS & CELTICS GET IT STARTED

The Pacers have played their best ball of the year in the Tournament, going a perfect 4-0 to win East Group A.

They’ll meet the Boston Celtics tonight (7:30 ET, TNT), who took a tougher road.

• A tougher road?: After falling to the Magic in their third Group Play game, the Celtics faced elimination going into a wild final night of Group Play
• They beat the Bulls by 27 points to take the point-differential tiebreaker over fellow 3-1 squads Orlando and Brooklyn

Three things to know:

• The rematch is on: Last time these teams met, on Nov. 1, the Celtics scored the second-most points in franchise history in a 155-103 win over Indiana
• Elite vs. elite: The Pacers top the list of NBA’s best offenses, at 122.5 points per 100 possessions. They’ll go up against the league’s second-best defense in Boston, which gives up 107.1 points per 100 possessions.
• First time for everything: The Pacers won the first game in In-Season Tournament history, and became the first team ever to clinch a spot in the Knockout Rounds. A win would make them the first team to secure a trip to Vegas

3. KINGS & PELICANS FINISH THE NIGHT

The Kings won twice, in a sense, when they beat Golden State 124-123 in Tuesday’s final game, drawing a date with New Orleans in tonight’s second Quarterfinal (10 ET, TNT).

• Securing a berth: The Kings needed a win or a loss by less than 12 to move on. After falling behind by as many as 24, they cut into the lead late to guarantee a spot in the Knockouts
• Winning the game: Malik Monk’s off-balance, clutch bank shot in the lane gave the Kings a 1-point win over a big rival, keeping Sacramento in the Top 4 in the West

The Pelicans, meanwhile, did what they had to do … while also getting a little Luka Magic to send them into the quarters.

• The waiting game: New Orleans finished its Group Play two Fridays ago, with a 116-106 win over the Clippers that sent them to 3-1 — and the West Group B lead. They would move on with a Rockets loss, and be eliminated with a Rockets win
• Luka’s assist: Doncic went for 41 to send the Mavs to a tight win over Houston on Tuesday, eliminating the red-hot Rockets

What are the top stories from this one?

• Can Pelicans go 3-0? New Orleans already has two wins over Sacramento this year, ending what had been a 6-game win streak for the Kings with a 36-point win on Nov. 20 … then winning again two nights later
• Chemistry on 💯: Both teams are (nearly) back to full strength, with the Pelicans getting CJ McCollum back last week – and beating the Sixers right away. Meanwhile, the Kings have won seven of 10 since De’Aaron Fox returned on Nov. 13
• Star duos shine: Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram put up 104 of the Pelicans’ 246 points in the first two matchups, Aschburner writes. Meanwhile, the Kings’ All-Star duo of De’Aaron Fox & Domantas Sabonis ranks fifth in combined scoring (48.9 ppg) and sixth in combined assists (13.5 apg)

4. TWO MORE QUARTERFINALS ON TUESDAY

LeBron James & Kevin Durant went five years without meeting in an NBA game.

By the time Lakers-Suns wraps up the Quarterfinals on Tuesday, they’ll have done it three times in the season’s first six weeks.

• (4) Suns at (1) Lakers, 10 ET on TNT
• LeBron increases lead: With L.A. winning the first two meetings of the season, LeBron increased his lead over Durant in head-to-head games to 17-6 in regular season games. KD still holds the 9-5 edge in the postseason
• Another L.A. rally?: In both of their wins over the Suns this season, the Lakers overcame double-digit deficits – down 12 on Oct. 26, down 14 on Nov. 10 in Group Play. L.A. has outscored Phoenix by 27 points in the fourth quarter in their first two games
• Clutch time: The first two games were decided by a total of eight points. LeBron (45 pts, 65% FG, 62% FT) and KD (42 pts, 35% FG, 93% FT) rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in clutch points this season

The Knicks & Bucks tip the night off in Milwaukee, where the Bucks are 9-1 on the season and have not lost in over a month (Oct. 29)

• (4) Knicks at (1) Bucks: 7:30 ET, TNT
• Bucks’ streak: Milwaukee enters this Quarterfinal matchup on a seven-game win streak against New York, dating back to Nov. 10, 2021
• Close games: The last three meetings between these teams were decided by six points or less, including a five-point win on Nov. 3 in the opening game of Group Play for both teams
• Brunson vs. Lillard: The guard matchup will be key to watch. Last month, Damian scored 10 of his 30 points in clutch time (a layup, a 3-pointer, an and-one layup, and two FTs) as Milwaukee withstood Jalen Brunson’s season-high 45 points

5. BINGE WATCH: RACE FOR THE NBA CUP 

Race for the NBA Cup has been going behind the scenes of teams’ journeys to Vegas since the In-Season Tournament started.

Need to put off your Monday to-do list a little longer today? Let these six episodes help.

• Episode 6: And Then There Were 8
• Episode 5: Conquering Kings
• Episode 4: The Tournament Heats Up
• Episode 3: Thunder Making Some Noise
• Episode 2: Eastern Conference
• Episode 1: Western Conference