The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament gets started this week with the knockout round with the top four teams remaining. On the final day of pool play, there was an aura of the playoffs and the NCAA Tournament buzzing in the air.
Now the final eight teams, six pool winners and two wildcards, play it out to be the only team that ever be called the first. The first and only NBA In-Season Tournament winners.
Here is everything that you need to know for the final week of play in the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
The Schedule
There are two games on Monday, December 4th, one from the east and one from the west. The action gets started with the second-seeded Indiana Pacers hosting the third-seeded Boston Celtics at 5:30 pm EST.Â
That is followed by the second-seeded Sacramento Kings hosting the third-seeded New Orleans Pelicans at 8 pm EST.
On Tuesday, December 5th the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks take on the fourth-seeded New York Knicks at 5:30 pm EST then the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers face the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns at 8 pm EST. All four knockout games will air on TNT.
After a day off where the rest of the league is in action the semifinals start up in Las Vegas, Nevada from the T-Mobile Arena with two games. The first semifinal is on ESPN at 3 pm EST with the second starting at 7 pm EST on TNT.
The championship game is on ABC at 6:30 pm EST.
Previewing the Knockout Round
Boston at Indiana
The only time these teams played this season was in the infamous 155-104 Boston win. In that game, Boston scored at least 31+ points in every quarter including 44 and 46 points in the first and fourth quarter. These are the types of teams the NBA envisioned in the knockout round when creating the tournament. An exciting young team like Indiana taking on one of the most successful franchises in the league.
New Orleans at Sacramento
These are the two teams that have the opportunity to play spoiler in the tournament. Young stars, high-octane offense and single elimination give both New Orleans and Sacramento great chances to win it all.
In their first two games this season New Orleans won both Brandon Ingram (54 points) and Zion Williamson (51 points) putting the team on their backs.
New York at Milwaukee
The first time these teams played Milwaukee snuck out with a 110-105 win behind Damian Lillard’s 30 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 22 points. The two combined for 25 free-throw attempts that allowed them to close out the win. Jalen Brunson fought back with 45 points of his own in the loss.
New York enters the knockout round with the top scoring defense (105.5 points) while Milwaukee has the third best scoring offense (121.1 points) setting up a clash of styles.
Phoenix at Los Angeles
This is the third game of the season between these teams with Los Angeles winning both. In the losses Durant totaled 77 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists in two games that were decided by a combined eight points. Having Devin Booker back in the lineup will only help make this an even bigger game.
NBA In-Season Tournament Odds
The marquee match of the knockout round with Kevin Durant taking on LeBron James in another huge game.
As of Sunday morning on DraftKings, Boston (+300) is the favorite to win the inaugural In-Season Tournament. Milwaukee (+340), Los Angeles (+550), Sacramento (+550) and Phoenix (+650) are the next best bets.
The longshots for the win this year are New Orleans (+1200), Indiana (+1300) and New York (+1400) with the longest of shots.
As far as the MVP is considered, Jayson Tatum (+450) is the favorite with James (+650), Fox (+650) and Lillard (+650) all tied for the next-best bet.Â
Some of the players with fun odds to win the MVP include Tyrese Haliburton (+1300), Williamson (+2000), Brunson (+2500) and Derrick White (+10000).
The best thing about this tournament is with single elimination, any of the eight teams could win three games in a row. Everything is on the table starting on Monday for the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.
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