Pacers reach semifinals on Haliburton's big night; Pelicans power past Kings
The NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament has reached the knockout rounds, which will culminate in one team hoisting the NBA Cup and each of its players walking away with $500,000 in prize money.
After all 30 teams were split into six groups and played four group stage games across November, eight qualified for the quarterfinals.
The Indiana Pacers beat the visiting Boston Celtics 122-112 on Monday night to clinch a berth in the semifinals, while the New Orleans Pelicans also booked their spot in the semis with a 127-117 win at the Sacramento Kings.
Tuesday will see the Milwaukee Bucks host the New York Knicks, followed by the Phoenix Suns playing at the Los Angeles Lakers. Both contests are rematches from the group stage.
The semifinals will take place on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, followed by the championship game on Saturday.
So what, exactly, is the NBA Cup? How will the tournament work? Why is it happening? What is the NBA hoping to get out of it?
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Monday | FAQ | Full Schedule
Haliburton takes center stage as Pacers oust Celtics
After going undefeated in group stage play, the Indiana Pacers found themselves at halftime down by seven points to the Boston Celtics in their in-season tournament quarterfinals game, having shot a dismal 29% on 2-pointers in the first half.
But even though Indiana had struggled, and even though Pacers coach Rick Carlisle had said before the game that his squad was going up against “the best team in the NBA,” one league executive was undeterred.
“You can score against them,” the exec texted to ESPN about the Pacers. “But if you f— around, you’ll find yourself on the wrong side of that equation.”
And Monday night, the Celtics found out. In the second half of the Pacers’ 122-112 victory, Tyrese Haliburton announced to the world he is a full-blown superstar. In the first triple-double of his NBA career, Haliburton scored or assisted on 24 out of 27 Pacers points to begin the second half. His four-point play with 93 seconds remaining put Indiana ahead for good.
The Pacers have embraced the in-season tournament from the beginning, citing the opportunity the national stage provides a young team looking to move forward. They did so — and then some — against the Celtics.
And the win was another sign that Haliburton has officially arrived as one of the NBA’s top talents. The floor general for the league’s best offense, Haliburton is quickly becoming an evolutionary version of Hall of Famer Steve Nash. Haliburton is more than happy to not only get all of his teammates involved but to stick dagger 3-pointers in the eye of arguably the league’s best perimeter defender in Jrue Holiday, as the Pacers point guard did late in the fourth quarter.
There are six games left to be played across this inaugural tournament. But if they are anything like this one, the league’s latest experiment will have to be viewed as a success. And after Boston let Haliburton and the Pacers hang around in the first half, Boston found out just how fast the Pacers can turn things around. — Tim Bontemps
2:02
Ingram’s 30-point performance sends Pelicans to Las Vegas
Brandon Ingram scores 30 points with eight rebounds and six assists to help the Pelicans eliminate the Kings in the NBA in-season tournament.
Ingram’s big night powers Pelicans past Kings
The Sacramento Kings entered Monday’s quarterfinals game against the New Orleans Pelicans as one of the in-season tournament’s hottest teams. After a blistering start in front of their raucous home crowd, the Kings looked intent on extinguishing the Pelicans’ tourney hopes.
But after trailing by as many as 15 to start the game, the Pelicans caught fire themselves, as they closed out the first quarter on an 18-4 run and never looked back on their way to a 127-117 win at Golden 1 Center.
The Pelicans did so despite Zion Williamson being quiet on the scoring front, posting just two points in the first half and 10 for the game.
Finally healthy, the Pelicans flexed their depth. Brandon Ingram finished with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Herbert Jones put up 23 points, while CJ McCollum, who had recently returned after missing more than three weeks because of a collapsed lung, contributed 17 points. Trey Murphy III, in just his second game this season after coming back from surgery on his left meniscus, added 16 points.
In all, the Pelicans had four players with at least 10 points and five assists, tied for their most in a game in franchise history.
A team source told ESPN on Monday the Pelicans felt that they were as healthy as they’ve been all season. In addition to McCollum and Murphy, the team also had seen role players Naji Marshall and Jose Alvarado return after missing time. However, the Pelicans will remain without Larry Nance Jr. for several more weeks due to a rib injury.
Sitting in eighth place in the Western Conference standings with a 12-10 record, the Pelicans’ push into the semifinals of the in-season tourney shouldn’t catch anyone off guard — especially after eliminating a Kings team that had gone undefeated in group stage play.
“With their complete roster,” a league source told ESPN about the Pels, “they are the team that I could see challenging the Denver Nuggets for the top team in the West.” — Kendra Andrews
Quarterfinals
Dec. 4 | Pacers 122, Celtics 112
Dec. 4 | Pelicans 127, Kings 117
Dec. 5 | New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks | 7:30 p.m. | TNT
Dec. 5 | Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers | 10 p.m. | TNT
NBA in-season tournament bracket
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FAQ (by Tim Bontemps)
Why is this happening?
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has wanted to implement it for years, for a variety of reasons. Much like the play-in games, though, it took a long time for him to convince everyone involved to give it a shot.
The first hope, obviously, is that it generates revenue. The NBA believes the in-season tournament can become a significant moneymaking franchise over time because of the ability to sell its television rights — as it did with the WNBA’s version of the event.
The other hope is to draw more eyeballs to the league. The stretch of time the tournament is set within — from the start of November through the first week of December — might be the most irrelevant part of the NBA schedule.
It’s after the initial rush of the season starting, and alongside the college football and NFL regular seasons. If this tournament can bring more attention to the sport during its least relevant time of the year, it will be seen as a victory.
What is the format?
Silver has long been fascinated with European soccer, and the basis for the NBA’s in-season tournament lies in the cup tournaments across Europe. In those leagues, there is a regular-season championship, determined by the team with the most points over the full year, and then a separate tournament (or, in some leagues, multiple tournaments) that runs concurrently with the league season.
Unlike European soccer tournaments, though, which all are played outside of the league schedule, the NBA Cup is built into the NBA’s regular-season schedule. The 30 teams were split up into six five-team groups.
The four group stage games will be played on seven November dates: four Fridays (Nov. 3, 10, 17 and 24) and three Tuesdays (Nov. 14, 21 and 28).
The quarterfinals will be played Dec. 4 and 5 at the higher-seeded team, and the semifinals and championship game will be Dec. 7 and 9 in Las Vegas.
How will this impact the regular-season schedule and standings?
Typically, the NBA sends out a full 82-game schedule in mid-August. This year, though, the league only sent 80 games, with a gap in the schedule from Dec. 3-10. Each team’s final two regular-season games will be determined by how the in-season tournament plays out.
The 22 teams that fail to qualify for the knockout rounds of the in-season tournament will have their final two games scheduled — one at home and one on the road — on Dec. 6 and 8 against other teams eliminated in the group stage.
The East teams that lose in the quarterfinals and the West teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play each other on Dec. 7. The teams that lose in the semifinals in Las Vegas will have played their full allotment of 82 games, while the teams that reach the championship game will actually wind up playing 83 games — with the championship game not counting toward the regular-season standings.
Why does the NBA Cup include regular-season games?
Before its launch, one of the biggest questions surrounding the in-season tournament was why any team would be incentivized to compete in it. By making it part of the regular-season schedule, and making every game count toward the regular season — very important from a playoff tiebreaker standpoint — the NBA created a situation in which it is in teams’ interest to win these games.
If this had been set up like the cup tournaments in European soccer, there would’ve been nothing stopping NBA teams from opting out literally or figuratively, sitting all of their top players and getting extra rest time. Under this system, though, they’ll have every incentive to play and win.
What teams make up the groups?
To create the groups — which were separated by conferences — the NBA put all 15 teams in each conference into five pots, separated by their finish in last season’s standings. So: Pot 1 included the teams that finished 1-3 in regular-season record, teams 4-6 went into Pot 2, teams 7-9 in Pot 3, teams 10-12 in Pot 4 and teams 13-15 in Pot 5.
As a result, the following groups were drawn:
East Group A: Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons
East Group B: Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets
East Group C: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic
West Group A: Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, LA Lakers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers
West Group B: Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets
West Group C: Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs
What do players get for winning?
The players on the winning team will each get $500,000, while the runners-up will get $200,000. The losing players of the semifinals will each get $100,000, and the losing players of the quarterfinals will each get $50,000.
Will anyone earn individual honors for their play in NBA Cup games?
There will be a Most Valuable Player award for the in-season tournament, as well as an all-tournament team.
Will this have any impact on the playoffs?
Not beyond the games being regular-season games that count in the standings. While there was some debate among league insiders about guaranteeing a playoff berth as a reward for winning the tournament, ultimately that idea — or any other to further incentivize teams — was not enacted. The only playoff impact will come from the wins and losses accrued throughout the tournament.
Why is it called the NBA Cup?
Because it’s easy enough to change. In the short term, the NBA has said it went with the most basic of titles for both the tournament and its trophy — the “in-season tournament” and “NBA Cup” — as a way to introduce the concept to fans. However, using such bland, nondescript names has another clear advantage: When the league looks to sell the naming rights to both, it’ll be an easier transition from an unremarkable name than one connected with a specific individual (such as the late David Stern, one possibility that had been floated before the tournament was officially unveiled).
1:43
Everything you need to know about the NBA in-season tournament
Richard Jefferson gives an in depth explanation of the NBA in-season tournament.
In-season tournament scores and schedule
*All times are ET
Nov. 3
Trail Blazers 115, Grizzlies 113 (OT)
Nov. 10
Nov. 14
Timberwolves 104, Warriors 101
Nov. 17
Nov. 21
Nov. 24
Nov. 28
Quarterfinals
Dec. 4 | Boston Celtics at Indiana Pacers | 7:30 p.m. | TNT
Dec. 4 | New Orleans Pelicans at Sacramento Kings | 10 p.m. | TNT
Dec. 5 | New York Knicks at Milwaukee Bucks | 7:30 p.m. | TNT
Dec. 5 | Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers | 10 p.m. | TNT
Semifinals
Dec. 7 | TBD | 5 p.m. | ESPN
Dec. 7 | TBD | 9 p.m. | TNT
Championship
Dec. 9 | TBD | 8:30 p.m. | ABC
