NBA In-Season Tournament: What the Heck is Going On?
NBA In-Season Tournament groups. (Photo Courtesy of NBA)
By: Zion Williams, Staff Writer
The first edition of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament kicked off on Friday, Nov. 3, and will finish with a championship on Dec. 9. It already promises to be an exciting addition to the season for basketball fans.
The tournament consists of a group stage and a knockout round. Teams were randomly placed into six groups of five, which were divided by conference. Each team will play every team in their group, and the group winners will move on to the knockout round along with one wild card from each conference. The wild cards will be the teams with the best record that came in second place.
The Memphis Grizzlies versus the Portland Trail Blazers opened the action for West Group A in a close matchup for the duration of the game. Memphis led 100-93 with a minute and a half left in the game, but the Trail Blazers tied the game at 102 and a Shaedon Sharp block on Luke Kennard sent the game into overtime. The Trailblazers went on to win the game 115-113 in overtime.
The Denver Nuggets opened the play for West Group B against the Dallas Mavericks. Denver was comfortable throughout the game, as they led 70-55 at halftime. The lead was driven by Nikola Jokic’s 20 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Despite Doncic’s 22-point second half, the Mavericks never made the game uncomfortable, and the Nuggets won 125-114.
The Oklahoma City Thunder played the Golden State Warriors in the opening match of West Group C. At halftime, the Warriors led 69 to 67 and the game continued to be close with momentum swinging each way. Tied at 139 with six seconds left in the game and an isolated 1v1, Curry drove to the basket and finished a layup with 0.2 seconds left to give the Warriors the win.
In East Group A, the Cleveland Cavaliers opened against the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers had a convincing 70-53 lead at halftime, led by Myles Turner with 22 points, but the Cavs battled back, and Donovan Mitchell tied the game at 100 with just under eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. However, the Pacers eventually secured the 121-116 win.
The New York Knicks played the Milwaukee Bucks in the first matchup of East Group B. Despite Jalen Brunson outscoring Giannis Antetokounmpo through the first two quarters, the Bucks had a 10-point lead at halftime. With just over a minute left in the game, Brunson’s 3-pointer gave the Knicks their first lead since early in the second quarter at 103-101. Milwaukee was able to withstand Brunson’s 45 points though and walked out with a 110-105 victory.
In the second matchup of East Group B, the Washington Wizards played the Miami Heat. The first half was very competitive, as the game was tied up at multiple points, but the Heat pulled away and held onto a 60-54 at halftime. Washington never recovered from this deficit and went on to lose 121-114 in a much closer game than much of the second-half play indicated.
In East Group C, the Brooklyn Nets played the Chicago Bulls in a close matchup. The Nets led for most of the first half, but the Bulls took a 1-point lead with just under three minutes left in the half. However, the Nets reclaimed a 59-58 lead going into halftime. With the Nets leading 109-107, Zach Lavine missed the game-winning three at the buzzer, and the Nets secured the win.
After the first tournament day, the Trailblazers, Nuggets, Warriors, Pacers, Heat, and Nets lead their respective groups, but there is still a lot more basketball to play. The next tournament date is Friday, Nov. 10.
First Round Leading Scorers
Jalen Brunson: 45 points
Donovan Mitchell: 38 points
Luka Doncic: 34 points
Nikola Jokic: 33 points
Desmond Bane: 33 points
