Lakers News: LA’s 2024 In-Season Tournament Group Revealed

Can L.A. repeat as In-Season Tournament champs next fall?

Dec 9, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and forward Cam Reddish (5) and forward Anthony Davis (3) look on after a play against the Indiana Pacers in the fourth quarter of the in season tournament championship final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers' group has been revealed for next year's Emirates NBA Cup, the re-branded In-Season Tournament.

According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Los Angeles will compete in West Group B, against the Oklahoma City Thunder (the West's No. 1 seed in 2023-24), the Phoenix Suns (the No. 6 seed), the Utah Jazz (the No. 12 seed), and the San Antonio Spurs (the No. 14 seed). The Lakers, of course, finished as the conference's No. 8 seed ahead of the Play-In Tournament, where they vanquished the New Orleans Pelicans to become the conference's No. 7 seed and square off against the No. 2-seeded Denver Nuggets.

There are six five-team groups in this year's Emirates NBA Cup, three from each conference, stratified by the 2023-24 season standings. In each group, one team is selected from the Nos. 1-3 seeds in either conference, another from the Nos. 4-6 seeds, and it proceeds from there.

This year's Emirates NBA Cup kicks off with a group play stage, consisting of four matchups (each club in each group plays against its four opponents once), in games between November 12 and December 3. The top eight teams (winners of the group play stages among the six groups, plus a wild card team from each conference) will move on to the knockout round. A semifinals and finals will be held in Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena.

The Lakers won last season's first In-Season Tournament, besting the Indiana Pacers to do so. 20-time All-NBA forward LeBron James was named tournament MVP for his efforts.

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