Jazz To Face LeBron, Durant In In-Season Tournament
Aug 14, 2023, 4:51 PM | Updated: 4:52 pm
LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks to pass around Collin Sexton #2 and Luka Samanic #19 of the Utah Jazz during the second half at Vivint Arena on April 04, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz drew a difficult pairing for group play during the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
The NBA announced the Jazz were in West Group A featuring the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, and Portland Trail Blazers.
The Suns and Grizzlies finished with top-four records in the West last season while the Lakers made the Western Conference Finals.
The @utahjazz got a brutal draw for the NBA In-Season Tournament.
They’ll play three of the four best teams in the West in Group Play in hopes of qualifying for the Eight team Tournament. pic.twitter.com/baFse06ae4
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) August 14, 2023
Only the Jazz and the Trail Blazers missed the playoffs last season from West Group A, and both did so only after resting their better players during the latter half of the regular season.
The NBA will release the dates for the In-Season Tournament cup games on Tuesday.
How Does NBA In-Season Tournament Work?
The In-Season Tournament will feature all 30 NBA franchises competing to earn a spot in the eight-team single-elimination tournament.
Pool play consists of six five-team groups, separated by conference, but not by the league’s existing divisions.
Over the first six weeks of the season, teams will face the other four members in their grouping once each in Cup games. Then, the winner of each group, plus two wildcard teams, will advance to the eight-team single-elimination tournament.
Which 8 teams will advance to the knockout round?
The NBA In-Season Tournament schedule will be revealed TOMORROW, August 15 on NBA Today at 3:00pm/et on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/B3J4crPw6i
— NBA (@NBA) August 14, 2023
The final four teams will complete the tournament at a neutral site in Las Vegas beginning December 7, with players on the winning team each earning $500,000.
The four Cup games will be counted toward a team’s regular season record.
Teams that advance to the finals of the NBA In-Season Tournament will wind up playing 83 regular season games, while those teams already eliminated will continue to compete in traditional regular season contests.
Though new to the NBA, the G League and the WNBA have featured In-Season Tournaments in recent years.
Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops or on Instagram @BensHoops.
