The Los Angeles Lakers begin In-Season Tournament play on Friday with a West Group A matchup vs. the Phoenix Suns at the Footprint Center.

“Some of the courts looked a little funky,” said LeBron James, “but I think it's great, in the sense of, for the league, to spice things up.”

 

“We all understand that the NBA is a business and we're trying to maximize revenues that the players and the teams can split,” Rob Pelinka told ClutchPoints. “The NBA in-season tournament is a big part of having a new property that I think our fans are really going to be excited about and embrace. And we want to attack that like anything, with a winning spirit.”

Players on the NBA Cup-winning squad will take home $500,000 a pop. Runner-ups pocket $200,000 each, semifinalists earn $100,000, and quarterfinalists walk away with $50,000. (Of course, a better on-court product = more eventual media rights revenue, which is shared with the players.)

“Any time that you can infuse a competitive environment into what already is a competitive environment, as well as there being incentives as well on the financial level I think it's going to be great,” Darvin Ham told me. “Any time you give these NBA players a chance to go compete for something, their antennas kind of go up.”

Ahead of Friday's action, let's set the stage for the Lakers' first In-Season Tournament.

Dates

Excluding the final, tournament games will fold into the 82-game regular-season calendar. Here's the Lakers' slate. You'll see their specialized court in the two games at Crypto.com Arena on Nov. 14 and 21.

  • Nov. 10, at Phoenix Suns (7 p.m. PT)
  • Nov. 14 vs. Memphis Grizzlies (7:30 p.m. PT)
  • Nov. 17 at Portland Trail Blazers (7 p.m. PT)
  • Nov. 21 vs. Utah Jazz (7 p.m. PT)

Should the Lakers advance to the Knockout Round, they'll compete in the quarterfinals on either Dec. 4 or 5. The semifinals (Dec. 7) and finals (Dec. 9) will take place in Las Vegas.

Bold Predictions

The Lakers will start with an upset

The Lakers eked out a victory over Kevin Durant and the Suns on Oct. 26. Devin Booker remains out, but Bradley Beal is back in the mix.

The two weeks since haven't gone well for the Lakers. Ham's squad enters the tourney in desperate need of a win. They've dropped the first three games of their four-game road trip, including a wire-to-wire blowout defeat against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

The Lakers have largely blamed their struggles — they're 28th in offensive rating — on the refs and the injury report, which had included Anthony Davis (their unprecedented -74 scoring margin across eight first quarters is inexplicable). Fortunately, AD and Jaxson Hayes are probable to play in Phoenix. The Lakers were embarrassed, and utterly dominated inside, in Houston without Davis.

I can envision LeBron and the Lakers (+2.5, +116 ML) using the “stakes” of the In-Season Tournament, the matchup with a star-laden division rival (the arena should be rocking), AD's return, and the prospect of avoiding an 0-4 road trip as motivation. With a little extra fuel on the fire, the Lakers come out strong (for once) and maintain the intensity for four quarters. Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, and Taurean Prince make 3s. LA 104, PHX 100.

Lakers win Group A

Initially, I didn't love the Lakers' chance to advance. They're focused on the bigger picture. The Suns are the Suns. The Grizzlies are still a playoff-caliber squad. The Jazz are on the rise. The Blazers could be frisky. And that was before the Lakers lost five of their first eight games with an historically inept offense.

Yet, I now like the Lakers' chances to see the quarterfinals. Memphis (1-7), Utah (2-7), and Portland (3-5) are at the bottom of the standings. The Lakers are catching Phoenix without Booker. If my first prediction comes to fruition, the Lakers will be in pole position in Group A. More importantly, they'll head back to Los Angeles on a high note.