Tipping off on Nov. 3, the inaugural In-Season Tournament is a first-of-its-kind league-wide tournament for an all-new championship trophy — the NBA Cup.
It’s a brand-new battleground for all 30 teams. A high-stakes tournament featuring single-elimination, win-or-go-home Knockout Rounds that’ll raise the stakes early in the season.
In-Season Tournament Schedule
We’ll play in 4 Tournament Night games that count towards our regular season record. If we finish first in West C Group or have a top 8 IST record, we’ll then advance to the single-elimination Knockout Rounds in Las Vegas.
The Court
The court, which will be used for Group Play and the Quarterfinals, showcases a bold and distinctive design scheme league-wide, making it instantly clear to fans when a game carries NBA In-Season Tournament implications.
- A fully painted court, edge-to-edge
- A larger-than-life NBA Cup at center court, prominently displaying to players and fans the new trophy that will be awarded to the champion
- A contrasting wash of color from lane-to-lane, creating a 16-foot-wide "runway" across the court
- NBA Cup silhouettes in the lanes
- Team logos across the NBA Cup at center court and on the baselines
West C Group
Group Play: Nov. 3 - 28
The winner of each group advances, plus one Wild Card. See all Group Draws.
Key Dates
TUESDAY, DEC. 5
FAQS
WHAT IS THE NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT?
The NBA In-Season Tournament ("IST") is a new annual competition for all 30 teams that will debut in the 2023-24 season.
WHAT IS GROUP PLAY?
All 30 teams will be randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on won-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. Group Play games will be played on “Tournament Nights,” which will take place every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 3-28 (with the exception of Election Day on Nov. 7). The only NBA games played on Tournament Nights will be Group Play games.
HOW WERE THE GROUPS DETERMINED?
Before the Group Play draw, 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. Pot 1 had the teams with the three best prior-season records in a conference, Pot 2 had the teams with the fourth- through sixth-best prior-season records and so on through Pot 5.
WHAT ARE THE KNOCKOUT ROUNDS?
The Knockout Rounds will consist of single-elimination games in the IST Quarterfinals (Dec. 4-5), Semifinals (Dec. 7) and Championship (Dec. 9).
WHICH TEAMS ADVANCE TO THE 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 one “wild card” team from each conference. The wild card will be the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group.
HOW DOES THE IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT AFFECT THE REGULAR SEASON?
Every team will still play an 82-game regular season. All IST games will count toward the regular-season standings except the Championship, which will sit outside the regular season.
For more information about the IST, click here.