The NBA in-season tournament is a new addition to the league this season, which will help keep players motivated and competitive early on in the season.
All 30 teams were split into six groups of five teams, and each team plays the other four teams in their group on Tuesdays and Fridays in November.
The teams with the best records in their group (plus a wildcard from each conference) move on to a one-week knockout round in December.
(If multiple teams in the same group end with the same record, then the tie-breaker is whichever team won by the most points. This was exciting to watch because recently, even when teams were winning by a lot near the end of the game, they kept the best players on the court to continue to try to score)
Once the competition is down to eight teams, the championship will be decided with a single-elimination knockout stage bracket.
Each player on the winning team will receive $500,000. Even though most NBA players make millions every season, this is still a lot of money, especially for younger players who don't make as much.
The first part of the tournament just finished up and the 8 teams advancing are the Knicks, Celtics, Bucks, Pacers, Lakers, Pelicans, Kings, and Suns.
The quarter-finals matchups will consist of:
Knicks @ Bucks
Celtics @ Pacers
Suns @ Lakers
Pelicans @ Kings
These Quarter-Finals matchups begin December 4th.
The Semi-Finals begin December 7th.
The In-Season Tournament Championship will take place on December 9th in Las Vegas. (this is the only game that does not count towards the team's regular-season record)