Will it be a team of veterans, one that has eyes on a possible NBA title, or a team of up-and-comers, just trying to figure out how to win, that comes out on top of the first NBA In-Season Tournament?
That’s the question as the Knockout Round gets ready to top off this weekend.
You have the two favorites in the Eastern Conference – Boston and Milwaukee – still alive and two teams that were projected to be in the running in the Western Conference – the L.A. Lakers and Phoenix.
But, you have the upstarts, the Indiana Pacers, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans, who maybe, just maybe, could use a tournament win as a springboard to bigger things.
Let’s look at the matchups.
NBA In-Season Tournament Knockout Round Schedule
Quarterfinals
Monday’s games (all times Eastern)
- Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers (7:30 p.m., TNT)
- New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings (10 p.m., TNT)
Tuesday’s games
- New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks (7:30 p.m., TNT)
- Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers (10 p.m., TNT)
Semifinals
At T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
- Dec. 7: Pelicans/Kings winner vs. Lakers/Suns winner (5 or 9 p.m., ESPN)
- Dec. 7: Pacers/Celtics winner vs. Bucks/Knicks winner (5 or 9 p.m., TNT)
Championship
- Dec. 9: TBD vs. TBD (8:30 p.m., ABC)
How the NBA In-Season Tournament Knockout Round was set
The Celtics beat the Bulls by 31 points to move ahead of the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets. One of the tiebreakers was point differential and the big win secured the next round for Boston.
The Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets by 24 points on Tuesday, which was a better point differential than the other second-place teams in the East side of the group play.
The Kings needed to not lose by more than 12 points to Golden State and pulled that off by coming from 24 points down to beat the Warriors 124-123.
Not everyone is happy with the point differential as a tiebreaker
ESPN and the Associated Press reported that several players and coaches were concerned about the point differential tiebreaker. In more than one game Tuesday night, players stayed in which the outcome decided so the win could be by a larger margin.
“That’s not how the game is supposed to be played,” Boston’s Jaylen Brown told ESPN. “You’ve got to respect your opponents.”
More than one player was quoted as saying that it was a “little weird” chasing points at the end of the game.
The AP reported recently that TV ratings have been up for the In-Season Tournament games over regular season games on the same day last year. So, more than likely, the In-Season Tournament is here to stay.
But it’s also likely that several changes will be made to the format for next season in an effort to address the concern of players and coaches on running up the score.
Updated schedule for Dec. 6 and Dec. 8 games
The NBA In-Season Tournament also affects the regular season schedule for teams that didn’t qualify for the Knockout Round.
The NBA released a revised schedule for those games.
Dec. 6 schedule
| Game | Time (ET) | TV |
| Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers | 7 p.m. | — |
| Memphis Grizzlies vs. Detroit Pistons | 7 p.m. | — |
| Miami Heat vs. Toronto Raptors | 7 p.m. | — |
| Philadelphia 76ers vs. Washington Wizards | 7 p.m. | — |
| Brooklyn Nets vs. Atlanta Hawks | 7:30 p.m. | — |
| San Antonio Spurs vs. Minnesota Timberwolves | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Charlotte Hornets vs. Chicago Bulls | 8 p.m. | — |
| Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets | 8 p.m. | — |
| Utah Jazz vs. Dallas Mavericks | 8:30 p.m. | — |
| Portland Trail Blazers vs. Golden State Warriors | 10 p.m. | — |
| Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Clippers | 10 p.m. | ESPN |
Dec. 8 schedule
| Game | Time (ET) | TV |
| Toronto Raptors vs. Charlotte Hornets | 7 p.m. | — |
| Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic | 7 p.m. | — |
| Atlanta Hawks vs. Philadelphia 76ers | 7 p.m. | — |
| Washington Wizards vs. Brooklyn Nets | 7:30 p.m. | — |
| Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Miami Heat | 8 p.m. | — |
| Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Memphis Grizzlies | 8 p.m. | — |
| Golden State Warriors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder | 8 p.m. | — |
| Chicago Bulls vs. San Antonio Spurs | 8:30 p.m. | — |
| Houston Rockets vs. Denver Nuggets | 9 p.m. | — |
| Los Angeles Clippers vs. Utah Jazz | 10 p.m. | ESPN |
| Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers | 10 p.m. | — |