The Orlando Magic announced they will face the Brooklyn Nets on the road Nov. 14 in the NBA’s first in-season tournament, a new annual competition for all 30 clubs that will debut this regular season.
The NBA will announce the full schedule Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
The tournament, which will have group play and knockout rounds, will tip off Nov. 3 in NBA markets and culminate with the semifinals Dec. 7 and championship Dec. 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Magic were grouped with the Nets, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics. There are three groups of five teams in each conference. Orlando’s in-season tournament group play games are:
- Nov. 14 at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Nov. 17 at Chicago, 8
- Nov. 21 vs. Toronto, 7
- Nov. 24 vs. Boston, 2:30, NBATV
Tickets for Orlando’s two home in-season tournament games will go on sale on Thursday at 3 p.m., the team said.
Single-game tickets for the remainder of the regular season will go on sale Aug. 25 at 1 p.m.
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All 30 teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from last regular season.
Each team will play four designated group-play games — one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two on the road — on “Tournament Nights,” which will take place every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 3-28.
The lone exception is Election Day on Nov. 7, when no games will be played. The only NBA games played on Tournament Nights will be group play.
Eight teams will advance to the knockout rounds: the team with the best record in the group stage in the six groups and two “wild cards” — the team from each conference with the best record in group play games that finished second.
The knockout rounds will consist of single-elimination games in the quarterfinals — played in NBA markets Dec. 4-5 — and semifinals and championship which will be played in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and 9.
The knockout teams will compete for a prize pool and the in-season tournament trophy (NBA Cup).
In each conference, the quarterfinals will be hosted by the two teams with the best record in group play, and the team with the best record in the group stage will host the wild card.
On Dec. 6 and 8, when there aren’t in-season tournament games scheduled, the 22 teams that don’t qualify for the knockout stage will each play two regular season games. The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals will each play a regular season game Dec. 8.
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There are incentives beyond bragging rights and the NBA Cup to push for when competing during the in-season tournament.
The prize pool will be allocated to the players on teams that participate in the knockout rounds as follows:
- Players on winning team of championship: $500,000 each
- Players on losing team of championship: $200,000 each
- Players on losing team of semifinals: $100,000 each
- Players on losing team of quarterfinals: $50,000 each
In addition, the NBA will name the Most Valuable Player of the in-season tournament and the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the event. Selection will be based on the players’ performance in group play and the knockout rounds.
All 67 games across both stages of the in-season tournament will count toward the regular-season standings except the championship. Fourteen group-play games — two games on each Tournament Night — and all seven knockout round games will be televised nationally.
Email Jason Beede at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @therealBeede.
