Suns Announce In-Season Tournament Schedule
It's schedule release time, and the Phoenix Suns already know a handful of key dates for the 2023-24 season. The team will take part in the league's opening night festivities against the Golden State Warriors while taking on the Los Angeles Lakers two nights after - both matchups being road tests for Phoenix.
On Christmas Day, they'll be hosting the Dallas Mavericks.
As far as the Suns' in-season tournament schedule, the team just released the when and where their Group A battles with the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies will take place:
Fri., Nov. 10: Los Angeles Lakers
Footprint Center, Phoenix 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 17: Utah Jazz
Delta Center, Salt Lake City 8:00 p.m.
Tue., Nov. 21: Portland Trail Blazers
Footprint Center, Phoenix 7:00 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 24 Memphis Grizzlies
FedExForum, Memphis 3:00 p.m.
More info on how the inaugural tournament works:
"The NBA In-Season Tournament is a new annual competition for all 30 teams debuting in the 2023-24 season. Following Group Play, eight teams will advance to the single-elimination Knockout Rounds with Quarterfinals games to be played on Dec. 4 and 5 in team markets.
"Four teams will then advance to the Semifinals to be played on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Championship, which will be the only game of the tournament not to count toward the 82-game regular-season standings, will be played on Dec. 9 at T-Mobile Arena with the winner receiving a new trophy, the NBA Cup.
"A prize pool will be allocated to players on teams that qualify for the Knockout Rounds, with allocations increasing depending on how far a team progresses in the tournament.
"The eight teams that will advance to the Knockout Rounds will be the team with the best standing in Group Play games in each of the six groups and one “wild card” team from each conference. The wild card will be the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group.
"The 22 teams that do not qualify for the Knockout Rounds will play two regular-season games on Dec. 6 and 8, and the four teams that lose in the Quarterfinals will play a regular-season game on Dec. 8, making every team still play an 82-game regular season."