2024 NBA in-season tournament: Format, schedule, groups - ESPN

The full schedule of the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup has officially been released.

It is the second edition of the NBA's in-season tournament, which will culminate in the championship game on Dec. 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Aside from the title game, the rest of the matchups will be part of the NBA's regular season schedule.

The tournament's opening night will be Nov. 12, which includes some big-time matchups. The New York Knicks will visit the Philadelphia 76ers in a clash of two of the Eastern Conference's high-profile teams, while Klay Thompson returns to the Bay Area as he and the Dallas Mavericks take on the Golden State Warriors.

Last year's inaugural event saw LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers win the first NBA Cup on Dec. 9 by defeating the Indiana Pacers, 123-109. After scoring 24 points in the title game, James won tournament MVP.

For this edition, all 30 NBA teams were randomly drawn into six groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2023-24 regular season. Each team will play its opponents once, with group stage games on four Tuesdays (Nov. 12, 19 and 26 and Dec. 3) and three Fridays (Nov. 15, 22 and 29).

The knockout will begin with the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Dec. 10 and Wednesday, Dec. 11, followed by the semifinals and championship.

Here's what you need to know about the in-season tournament.

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All times Eastern

Nov. 12

Hawks at Celtics, 7 p.m.
Heat at Pistons, 7 p.m.
Hornets at Magic, 7 p.m.
Knicks at 76ers, 7:30 p.m. (TNT)
Raptors at Bucks, 8 p.m.
Suns and Jazz, 9 p.m.
Mavericks at Warriors, 10 p.m. (TNT)
Timberwolves at Trail Blazers, 10 p.m.

Nov. 15

Heat at Pacers, 7 p.m.
76ers at Magic, 7 p.m.
Pistons at Raptors, 7 p.m.
Lakers at Spurs,