What is the nba’s most recent in-season tournament, and why is the league putting on a championships game in las vegas on december 9th, four months before the playoffs begin?
The league’s first in-season tournament is set to begin on friday, and although such a competition is well-known to international soccer enthusiasts, it is also a new frontier in the united states, where leagues typically have only one championship.
The new in-season tournament blends the nba’s 82-game regular season with group and knockout rounds, but not unlike england’s fa cup or north america’s less-known leagues cup.
Here’s a look at the nba’s big experiment: a look at the expectations.
Every tuesday and friday in november (except for this coming tuesday, when there are no games to commemorate election day) has been designated as a tournament night. All games on the schedule for those nights are tournament games.
The quarterfinals will be played on december 4 and 5 at higher seeds; the semifinals will be held in las vegas on december 7 and the title game will be held in las vegas on december 9. On friday, 14 teams will begin playing, and 13 teams will begin playing on november 10. Orlando and atlanta will not open their tournament schedules until november 14, and toronto will not make its tournament debut until november 17. On december 6 and 8, the 22 teams that fail to reach the quarterfinals will play still-to-be-scheduled regular-season games. On the december 8 schedule, there are regular-season games between the teams that lose quarterfinal games.
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