NBA In-Season Tournament scores: Live updates, analysis from the opening night of group play (2024)

The road to Las Vegas begins tonight

By Sam Quinn

1 min read

The brand new NBA In-Season Tournament arrived on Friday, and with seven games now in the books, we have a far better idea of what to expect out of the league's grand experiment to emulate soccer. So far, so good. All seven games were competitive. Four underdogs covered the spread and two won their games outright. Given the attention paid to what could have been a night of typical regular-season basketball, the NBA has to be happy with the results.

Before we dive into some of our biggest takeaways from the beginning of the tournament, here's everything you need to know about how the tournament works and what to expect from it moving forward.

  • IST explainer
  • Full IST schedule and standings
  • IST Power Rankings
  • What players and coaches are saying about the IST
  • IST courts explainer
  • IST courts, ranked

So, with that in mind, let's dive into our major takeaways from Friday's action:

An incredible night of basketball

Myles Turner and the Indiana Pacers won the very first game of In-Season Tournament play, and he led his team in scoring with 27 points. After the game, he gave a quote that the NBA was surely thrilled to see. "It's playoff basketball man." Turner said when interviewed on the Indiana broadcast. "That's what it's about."

A lot of the consternation about this tournament has revolved around the fear that nobody, not the fans, not the teams and not the players, would treat this like playoff basketball. If this is going to become an important part of the league calendar, everybody has to give it the importance the league is hoping for. It's too early to say whether or not they ultimately will, but the league couldn't have asked for a better night of basketball to launch this event.

Six of the seven games were decided by single digits, and the seventh was won by 11 points. Blazers-Grizzlies went to overtime, while Warriors-Thunder and Nets-Bulls both came down to a final possession, and Knicks-Bucks and Pacers-Cavaliers almost did. Nearly every game was close throughout, and the quality of basketball was high throughout.

Did the teams treat it like playoff basketball? No, not yet. Stephen Curry played only 31 minutes, for example. No team ran its stars into the ground as it would for a postseason affair. But give it time. As far as first nights go, the league couldn't have asked for much better.

The courts were ... a mixed bag

You can check out all 30 courts for the In-Season Tournament above, but early on Friday, the general consensus was that the courts weren't working. In fairness, the league started off with some of its worst designs. The neon yellow and bright blue in Indianapolis was downright distracting, and the green stripe down the center of the court in Milwaukee made it look like there was something wrong with your television.

But as the night progressed? Things got a bit better. A yellow stripe worked far better with Denver's darker blue than Indiana's brighter floor. Chicago's all-red court worked well, aside from the contrast with the ball. Oklahoma City's blue and black scheme is among the best of the 30.

None of the top six courts in our rankings were used tonight. When teams like Boston, Phoenix and Utah take the floor, fans might feel differently. But, for now, the league is fighting an uphill battle from an aesthetic standpoint. Some of these bright colors just hurt the eyes too much to focus on a basketball game.

The Grizzlies are cooked

It's not necessarily impossible to make the playoffs at 0-6. The Lakers were 0-5 (and then 2-10) early last season and reached the Western Conference Finals. The Kings were 0-4 and earned the No. 3 seed. But, remember, those teams had their full rosters at their disposals. The Grizzlies are 0-6 and won't get Ja Morant back for 19 games. Steven Adams isn't coming back, period.

The Lakers and Kings needed a historically packed Western Conference to make their runs last season. The Western Conference remains dominant, but with better health and a heavier top, it's just not especially likely that 45 wins earns a top-4 seed. If the Grizzlies can even rally their way back to .500 or so, their best case scenario is probably a play-in route to the playoffs. More likely, this is a lottery team.

That might not be the worst thing. With Adams injured and Morant needing to re-earn the organization's trust, a gap year in which the team can assess the rest of the roster before regrouping over the summer could be beneficial. Right now, the Grizzlies don't have the talent to compete for a playoff spot. If a loss to the lowly Blazers doesn't prove that, then nothing will.

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That'll do it for Night No. 1 of the In-Season Tournament

Portland finishes this one off, 115-113, and the Grizzlies, two-time reigning No. 2 seed, are suddenly 0-6. Their season, and in their In-Season Tournament hopes, are now on life support.

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Jerami Grant might have iced this one

As improbable as it would have sounded before the season, it looks like the Memphis Grizzlies are headed for an 0-6 start. Jerami Grant just sank a 3 to put the Blazers up 112-108, and the Grizzlies have only eight points in the last eight minutes.

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Tie game!

Jackson ties us up with 90 seconds remaining on that layup. This game refuses to end. There's a very real chance we get our first double-overtime game of the season here.

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Ayton puts Portland on top

We saw no scoring for the first two minutes of overtime, but Deandre Ayton gives Portland the lead on a putback. That's his fourth double-double of the season, and Memphis turns it over with an illegal screen. It is all Portland right now, and the Grizzlies are in serious danger of an 0-6 start.

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Denver finishes the job

The Nuggets finish off the Mavericks behind a 33-14-9 stat line from Nikola Jokic, who is now shooting 64.5% from the floor this season. Luka Doncic was nearly as good, but in the early battle of the MVP favorites, Jokic comes out on top.

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SHARPE BLOCKS PORTLAND INTO OVERTIME!

WOW! That is the best defensive highlight of Shaedon Sharpe's young career. He flies in out of nowhere to block Luke Kennard's game-winning short and send this game to overtime.

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Tie game in Portland

As unbelievable as it sounds, the Blazers have overcome a 10-point deficit with 201 seconds remaining on the clock. This game is now tied, 102 apiece, with 8.3 seconds left. The Grizzlies need a bucket to earn their first win of the season and stave off an 0.6 record.

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Sharpe to the line for the tie

Shaedon Sharpe can tie this thing up with 8.3 seconds remaining. This is a big spot for the second-year pro, but exactly the sort of high-pressure rep the Blazers hoped this tournament would give him.

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Portland comes so close to the lead

Jerami Grant goes in-and-out from the corner. Fortunately, they hold possession as the ball goes out of bounds. With 15.3 seconds left down two, this game is very much available to them after trailing by 10 three minutes ago.

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Portland will not go away

Memphis led this game by 10 with 3:21 left. Suddenly it's a four-point game with 45.6 seconds left on the clock. Now Malcolm Brogdon can cut it two at the line. Can Memphis hold on?

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Memphis wins the challenge

Big replay win for the Grizzlies, as that Marcus Smart foul is overturned. That's two points off the board for Portland, and quickly, two on the board for Memphis thanks to Desmond Bane. It's an eight-point game, one that is slowly slipping away from the Trail Blazers.

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Denver's bench finally comes to life

Dallas cut the Denver lead to nine, but five quick points from Christian Braun has it back up to 14. Normally, Dallas is about as well-equipped to overcome such a lead as any team in basketball. But their opportunity is dwindling here. You have to dominate the Jokic bench minutes to beat Denver, and it won't be long now before the best player in the world returns to the floor.

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The rare flopping call!

Jerami Grant just got called for flopping, and that gave Desmond Bane a free throw to push the lead up to 94-87. Six points is hardly an insurmountable lead, but for a young team like the Blazers, coming back in crunch time is no easy task.

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Dallas making its run

These are the minutes you have to win to beat the Nuggets: when Nikola Jokic goes to the bench. Sure enough, Dallas is +9 when the Finals MVP is on the bench, right now it's a single-digit game at 104-95. Denver needs its best player to put the Mavericks away.

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Jaren Jackson's third 3 ties it up

Back and forth this game goes, where it will stop, nobody knows. A wild 3-pointer by Jaren Jackson Jr., his third of the night, ties us up at 80. Since the 8:46 mark of the third quarter, neither team has led by more than five points.

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A one-point game with one quarter to go

Grizzlies 77, Blazers 76 through three quarters. I won't lie, I didn't expect to be more interested in that game than Nuggets-Mavericks down the stretch, but they're forcing my hand.

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NBA In-Season Tournament scores: Live updates, analysis from the opening night of group play (2024)

FAQs

Which NBA team won the In-Season Tournament? ›

In-Season Tournament Tracker: Lakers win NBA Cup

Anthony Davis was unstoppable as the Lakers defeated the Pacers to win the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship.

How is the NBA play-in tournament going to work? ›

The NBA play-in tournament features four teams in both the Western and Eastern Conference. Each season, the teams that finished with the No. 7-10 seeds go to the play-in format. Those teams play each other in a mini tournament to determine who the final two teams to make the playoffs proper will be.

What is NBA In-Season Tournament group play? ›

Group Play games will count as regular-season-games for all purposes. A team will play each of the other four teams in its group in one Group Play game. A team's record in these four intraconference games will determine whether the team qualifies for the Knockout Rounds.

Who won the NBA midseason tournament? ›

NBA In-Season Tournament Tracker: Lakers win NBA Cup | NBA.com.

What NBA team has the best season ever? ›

The best single regular season record was recorded by the Golden State Warriors in the 2015–16 season. In that season, the Warriors recorded 73 wins and 9 losses with a winning percentage of .

Who is the MVP of the in-season tournament? ›

LeBron James takes MVP honors after averaging 26.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 7 In-Season Tournament games.

What happened to Zion Williamson? ›

Impact Williamson exited the Pelicans' first Play-In Tournament game against the Lakers with a hamstring strain and has not played since. However, Williamson says he is hopeful to eventually make his postseason return, which would likely require a second-round matchup.

What standings make the NBA play-in tournament? ›

Teams finishing the regular season in positions 7 through 10 in the standings for each conference compete to determine the number 7 and 8 seeds in each conference's bracket tournament.

Why did the NBA start the Play-In Tournament? ›

The tournament was devised by the NBA as a way to keep games competitive throughout the length of the entire season by giving teams in the middle of the pack a longer window to make a move and win a spot in the playoffs.

Does the in-season tournament matter? ›

Every game played in the in-season tournament,* including the quarterfinal and semifinal clashes, will also count as part of each team's 82-game regular season. As you may have noticed in the regular-season schedule, your favorite team has only 80 games locked in.

What is the NBA In-Season Tournament idea? ›

Teams would be broken up into six groups of five. Group winners would advance to a knockout round. A final four would advance to Sin City. All games except the championship would count toward regular-season records.

What is the payout for the in-season tournament? ›

The NBA's inaugural in-season tournament has concluded with the Los Angeles Lakers beating the Indiana Pacers 123-109 to lift the NBA Cup, with the team's winning players receiving $500,000 each in prize money.

What do the Lakers get for winning the In-Season Tournament? ›

In addition to taking home a trophy, Lakers players on standard two-way contracts each made $500,000 and the Pacers received $200,000 apiece.

Who has the best record in the In-Season Tournament? ›

The Los Angeles Lakers have the most wins by a team in the In-Season Tournament in a season, with 7 wins this season.

Who is the number one seed in the NBA? ›

The Celtics secure the No. 1 overall seed & the 76ers make the biggest jump in final survey of the regular season.

Who advances in the NBA In-Season Tournament? ›

Eight teams advance to the knockout rounds: the six group winners and two wild card teams. Knockout rounds consist of single-elimination games. Each squad will have 80 games on their initial regular-season schedule, while those who don't qualify for elimination games in the tournament will have two more games added.

Did the Lakers win the In-season? ›

LAS VEGAS — Anthony Davis had seasons highs of 41 points and 20 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament title with a 123-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night.

Did the Celtics make the in-season tournament? ›

The Celtics' road to Las Vegas ended on Monday night in Indianapolis, with Boston falling to the Pacers, 122-112, in the knockout round of the NBA's inaugural in-season tournament.

Was the NBA In-Season Tournament a success? ›

The league devotes its national broadcasts to its players and teams that are already well-known, instead of trying to get there. This allowed people to watch and pay attention to Haliburton and catch his brilliance. So in one way, the tournament was a success: it minted a new star.

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