NBA Cup: How Does the In Season Tournament Work?
Introduction
The NBA Cup is a new in-season tournament that will debut in the 2023-24 season. The tournament will feature 16 teams who will compete in a single-elimination bracket. The winner of the tournament will receive a berth in the NBA Finals.
Format
The NBA Cup will be played in two phases.
- The first phase will consist of a round-robin pool play format.
- The second phase will be a single-elimination bracket.
Pool Play
The 16 teams will be divided into four pools of four teams each. Each team will play the other three teams in their pool once.
The top two teams from each pool will advance to the single-elimination bracket.
Single-Elimination Bracket
The eight teams that advance from the pool play phase will be seeded 1-8 based on their records in pool play. The top seed will face the eighth seed, the second seed will face the seventh seed, and so on.
The single-elimination bracket will be played in a best-of-seven format.
Rules
The NBA Cup will be played under the same rules as the regular season.
There will be one exception to the regular season rules. In the single-elimination bracket, teams will be allowed to use a one-time timeout per game in addition to the regular timeouts.
Schedule
The NBA Cup will be played during the regular season.
The pool play phase will be played from December 19th to January 15th.
The single-elimination bracket will be played from January 17th to February 12th.
Implications
The NBA Cup has the potential to be a major addition to the NBA calendar.
The tournament will provide fans with a new and exciting way to watch the NBA's best teams compete.
The tournament could also have a major impact on the NBA's playoff race.
The winner of the NBA Cup will receive a berth in the NBA Finals, which could give them a major advantage in the playoffs.
