NBA Cup 2024: Schedule, format and new tweaks for this year’s in-season tournament

LeBron James and the Lakers won the first-ever NBA in-season tournament last year. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The 2024 Emirates NBA Cup begins Tuesday, and it feels like Adam Silver’s dream of making early-season games have more at stake is here to stay.

The Los Angeles Lakers took home the inaugural in-season tournament title in Las Vegas last year, beating the Indiana Pacers in the final. The New Orleans Pelicans and Milwaukee Bucks also earned a trip to Vegas for the semifinals.

The NBA will continue to tweak various elements of the event, and after consulting with the participants, the league feels it has come up with an even more effective way of implementing this new staple.

Evan Wasch, NBA executive vice president of NBA basketball strategy and analytics, spoke with Yahoo Sports recently about the NBA Cup. In Year 1, he said, the scores for group play were closer than the average NBA game, TV ratings were 18% higher than regular-season games, attendance was higher as evidenced by last November breaking league records, and social media engagement was “off the charts” — along with the Lakers’ NBA cup win being viewed by nearly 5 million people, a number that isn’t typically reached until the league’s Christmas Day matchups.

Games for group play will still be held Tuesdays and Fridays, and there will still be separate standings until group play is decided. The tournament will conclude in mid-December with the semifinals and a final taking place in Las Vegas.

Here’s what you need to know for Year 2 of the NBA Cup.

What is the NBA Cup schedule?

Group Play: Nov. 12-Dec. 3 (Tuesdays and Fridays)

Quarterfinals: Dec. 10, 11

Semifinals: Dec. 14

Championship: Dec. 17

Are the NBA Cup courts back?

For most viewers, the courts were eyesores, the bright colors being such a stark difference to the usual hardwood and center-court logo design everyone is used to. The court designs of the New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz stood out in that regard last year, among others.

But the designs did accomplish the goal of drawing attention to the night and letting fans…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-cup-2024-schedule-format-and-new-tweaks-for-this-years-in-season-tournament-174853306.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-11 17:48:00

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