CLEVELAND — This season, the NBA will host its first-ever In-Season Tournament, with specific regular-season games being categorized as group play before an eventual "Knockout Round."
And we now know who -- and when -- the Cleveland Cavaliers will play, with the league announcing the schedule for its new format.
While the regular-season slate has yet to be announced, we now know that Cleveland's schedule will include the following games, which will double as group play contests for the in-season tournament:
- Friday, November 3 - at Indiana Pacers - 7 p.m. ET
- Friday, November 17 - vs. Detroit Pistons - 7:30 p.m. ET
- Tuesday, November 21 - at Philadelphia 76ers - 7:30 pm. ET (TNT)
- Tuesday, November 28 - vs. Atlanta Hawks - 7:30 p.m. ET
The complete 2023-24 regular season schedule will be announced on Thursday, August 17.
As for the In-Season Tournament, eight teams (four from each conference) will advance from Group Play and into the second stage of the In-Season Tournament, known as the Knockout Rounds. The advancing teams will be the six group winners and two "wild cards" (teams from each conference with the best Group Play records that finished second in the group), with additional tiebreaker procedures in place.
The Knockout Rounds will include single-elimination games taking place from Dec. 4-Dec. 7, with the Championship taking place on Saturday, Dec. 9. Quarterfinal games will be played in NBA team markets, while the semifinals and championship will be hosted at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tickets for the quarterfinals and championship game are on sale at NBAEvents.com.