The NBA announced the groups for the in-season tournament and the Knicks are in the following group:
Milwaukee, Miami, Washington and Charlotte. So it looks like the Knicks will be able to get to the Knockout stages fairly easily playing Washington and Charlotte.
Here are the rules:
The In-Season Tournament will consist of two stages: Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.
• Group Play: As revealed today on ESPN and outlined below, all 30 teams have been randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2022-23 regular season. Each team will play four designated Group Play games – one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two on the road – on “Tournament Nights,” which will take place every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 3-28 (with the exception of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when no games will be played). The only NBA games played on Tournament Nights will be Group Play games.
• Knockout Rounds: Eight teams will advance to the Knockout Rounds: the team with the best standing in Group Play games in each of the six groups and two “wild cards” (the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group). The Knockout Rounds will consist of single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals (played in NBA team markets on Monday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 5) and Semifinals and Championship (played in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9, respectively). The Knockout teams will compete for a prize pool and the new In-Season Tournament trophy, the NBA Cup.
And more info…
Knockout Rounds
In each conference, Quarterfinal games will be hosted by the two teams with the best record in Group Play games, and the team with the best record in Group Play games will host the wild card team.
During the Knockout Rounds on days when In-Season Tournament games are not scheduled (Wednesday, Dec. 6 and Friday, Dec. 8), the 22 teams that do not qualify for the Knockout Rounds will each play two regular-season games. The four teams that lose in the Quarterfinals will each play a regular-season game on Dec. 8.
Prize Pool
For the 2023-24 season, the In-Season Tournament prize pool will be allocated to the players on the teams that participate in the Knockout Rounds as follows:
• Players on winning team of Championship: $500,000 each
• Players on losing team of Championship: $200,000 each
• Players on losing team of Semifinals: $100,000 each
• Players on losing team of Quarterfinals: $50,000 each
League Honors
At the conclusion of the In-Season Tournament, the NBA will name the Most Valuable Player of the In-Season Tournament and the All-Tournament Team. Selection will be based on the players’ performance in both Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.
Boy, this doesn’t sound confusing and stupid at all! No sir!