The NBA In-Season Tournament Explained

 NBA fans are perplexed about how this new NBA In-Season tournament actually works. The Tournament is already under way and fans still are a bit confused about what is actually going on. 

When you take a top-down view of this tournament it makes it much easier to understand. 

Group Play: All 30 teams are randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on won-loss records from the previous regular season. Each team plays four designated Group Play games on “Tournament Nights” – one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two on the road.

Knockout Rounds: Eight teams 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 are single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Championship.

Championship: The Semifinals and Championship will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The qualifying teams competed for a prize pool and the new In-Season Tournament trophy, the NBA Cup.