The NBA announced its inaugural in-season tournament schedule Tuesday, officially putting four 2023-24 Detroit Pistons games on the radar.
The Pistons, who were placed in a group with the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers during a tournament drawing in July, will play each team in designated “Group Play” games in November. They’ll host the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 10 (7 p.m.) and Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 14 (7 p.m.), before hitting the road for games against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 17 (7:30 p.m.) and Indiana Pacers on Nov. 24 (8 p.m.).
For the opening “Group Play” round, all 30 NBA teams were divided into groups of five teams with three groups in each conference. Every team will play one game against each opponent in its group, with two taking place at home and two on the road. The games will be played on “Tournament Nights,” which will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays from Nov. 3 through Nov. 28.
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The knockout rounds, which take place in December, will feature eight teams — the six best teams from each group and two “wild card” teams, which will be one remaining team from each conference that finished with the best “Group Play” record. If two or more teams tie during Group Play, a series of tiebreakers will be held based on point differential, total points scored and more. The single-elimination knockout round will feature four quarterfinal games Dec. 4 and 5. The neutral site semifinals (Dec. 7) and championship (Dec. 9) will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
With the exception of the championship game, every tournament game will count as a regular season game. Teams that fall short of qualifying for the knockout rounds will each play two regular season games Dec. 6 and Dec. 8. The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals will also each play a regular season game Dec. 8.
There’s a prize pool — every player on a team that qualifies for the knockout rounds will win money. Players on the championship team will earn $500,000 each, with the runner-up team receiving $200,000 each. Players to lose in the semifinals will receive $100,000, and the semifinal losers will receive $50,000. The winning team will also receive the NBA Cup trophy, and there will be an in-season tournament MVP and All-tournament team.
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The Pistons, who went an NBA-worst 17-65 last season, have the longest odds to get out of their group, behind the Sixers, Cavs, Hawks and Pacers. Philadelphia, Cleveland and Atlanta each made the 2023 postseason.
The Pistons’ full 2023-24 schedule is slowly coming into focus. They will host the Phoenix Suns in a preseason game on Oct. 8 before traveling across the border to Montreal for a preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 12.
They will open the regular season Oct. 25. The full schedule will be released Thursday at 3 p.m.
The Pistons will begin training camp Oct. 3 at their practice facility in Detroit with increased expectations. Their big offseason move was the lucrative hiring of Monty Williams as head coach. They drafted Ausar Thompson with the No. 5 overall pick and traded for backups Joe Harris and Monte Morris, but their biggest on-court addition will be the return of Cade Cunningham.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa.
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