The groups for the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament are set.
The Utah Jazz are in Group A in the Western Conference and will play against the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers.
The idea of the In-Season Tournament is to spice up the regular season and give teams another trophy to compete for, like in international soccer.
The 30 NBA teams have been randomly split into three groups of five teams per conference. Each team will play one game against each team in the group, with two games being at home and two on the road.
The team with the best record in the group will advance to the knockout round. Additionally, there will be two “wild card” teams, which is “the team from each conference with the best record in group play games that finished second in its group,” according to the NBA.
Group play will start on Nov. 3 and be played on Tuesdays and Fridays throughout November.
Eight total teams — four teams from each conference — left standing will compete in the single-elimination knockout rounds to determine the winner of the tournament.
The final four teams advance to the semifinals. That round and the championship will be played in Las Vegas.
Knockout play runs from Dec. 4 through Dec. 9, when the championship game is played.
All In-Season Tournament games except the championship are part of the regular season and count toward teams’ regular-season records, and stats and all games up to the semifinals and championship will be played at NBA teams’ arenas.
Since the games count as part of the regular season, teams will still play 82 games each regular season.
The concept of an in-season tournament separate from the league championship has worked well in soccer, but there’s a lot of history behind those competitions.
In theory, it could add intrigue and excitement to a regular season that can get monotonous at times, but there has to be buy-in from the players. If star players sit out the competition like they do during the regular season, the allure vanishes.
Aside from the In-Season Tournament trophy — called the NBA Cup — players from the winning team will each win $500,000, while the losers of the championship each win $200,000.
Players on the semifinal losing teams each net $100,000 and players on the quarterfinal losing teams take home $50,000, according to ESPN.
Here are the groups for the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament.
West Group A: Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers.
West Group B: Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets.
West Group C: Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs.
East Group A: Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons.
East Group B: Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets.
East Group C: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic.