Cleveland Cavaliers’ In-Season Group Game Dates Set
The 2023-24 NBA Season will feature the league’s inaugural in-season tournament, including regular season games that double as group stage games.
For the Cleveland Cavaliers, those group stage games begin on Nov. 3 with a road game against the Indiana Pacers. Cleveland then hosts the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 17, plays at the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 21 in a nationally televised game and then hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 28.
The winners of each group, plus two wild cards, will advance to play in knockout round games in Las Vegas on Dec. 4 or Dec. 5. Winners from those games will advance to the semifinals on Dec. 7 (also in Las Vegas) with the semifinals winners playing the championship game on Dec. 9.
The group stage games do account towards a team’s regular season record. Any games played in Las Vegas, however, do not.
Players on the winning team will receive $500,000 each, while second-place team members will receive $200,000. Semifinal losers will receive $100,000 while quarterfinal losers will receive $50,000.
By comparison, New York Liberty players who just won the WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup took home $30,000 apiece while Las Vegas Aces players earned $10,000 for finishing second. The WNBA also donated $10,000 to the Liberty’s charity of choice and $5,000 to the Aces’.
At the time of publication, there are no betting odds available for group stage games. But Cleveland would appear poised to make a run at winning their group and making it to at least the quarterfinals. Among their group, they finished with the second-best record behind the Philadelphia 76ers. But Philadelphia faces real roster issues right now with James Harden called 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey “a liar” and saying he won’t play for a team that employs Morey. Baring that situation resolving itself in a timely fashion, the 76ers appear to be in a tight spot. And on paper, Cleveland should be better than both the Pacers and the Pistons.
