In August, the NBA officially unveiled the schedule for the brand new In-Season Tournament. Rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama will be front and center in the action, but there are plenty of other games to get excited about.

On Aug. 15, the NBA announced the schedule for all group-stage games. The winner of the inaugural tournament will be the first team to receive the NBA Cup.

Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs got the most nationally televised NBA In-Season Tournament games. Three times the club will be in the spotlight.

The NBA season just started, but the In-Season Tournament games are right around the corner. The first set of In-Season Tournament games is on Friday, Nov. 3. Seven exciting games will feature 14 teams in what is sure to be a day to tune in to. The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers will tip things off with the first game of the tournament. The Dallas Mavericks and the defending champion Denver Nuggets will end the first night of action in what is sure to be a high-scoring affair. In between, the Golden State Warriors will battle the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder in a battle of old vs. new.

There are plenty of other games to get excited about, so with that said, here is the entire group stage schedule and everything you need to know about the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament.

In-Season Tournament explained

The NBA has long been innovative in creating new ways to improve the league, and that has especially been the case in recent seasons. The NBA recently implemented the play-in tournament, allowing the 7-10 seeds to battle it out for the final two spots in each conference.

The newest change the NBA is adding is the In-Season Tournament. Each team will play four games in the group stage, with the top eight teams advancing to the knockout stage. The winner of the tournament will win the newest NBA trophy, the NBA Cup, as well as a pool prize of $18 million dollars ($500,000 for each player). The tournament starts on Friday, Nov. 3, and will conclude with the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 9. The championship game will be at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

In-Season Tournament Format

All 30 teams are partaking in the In-Season Tournament. There are six groups, three from each conference. Each group has five teams in each, and each team will play every team in their group once during the group stage of the tournament.

The winner of each group – along with two wild card teams – will advance to the second part of the tournament, the knockout stage. The knockout rounds will be single-elimination games until the In-Season Tournament champion is crowned. The quarterfinals of the knockout stage will be on Dec. 4 and 5, with the semifinals on Dec. 7 before the championship game on Dec. 9.

All in all, there will be 67 games during the tournament, per ESPN. The games will count towards the regular season records, and every team except for those in the championship game will play their normal 82 regular season games. The teams in the championship game will end up playing an 83rd game – with the championship game only counting towards the tournament and not the regular season.

Groups

East Group A: Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons

East Group B: Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets

East Group C: Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls

West Group A: Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trailblazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns

West Group B: Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets

West Group C: Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder

 

Group stage schedule

All games are ET.

Friday, Nov. 3

Cavaliers vs. Pacers, 7 p.m.

Knicks vs. Bucks, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Wizards vs. Heat, 8 p.m.

Nets vs. Bulls, 8 p.m.

Warriors vs. Thunder, 8 p.m.

Grizzlies vs. Trailblazers, 10 p.m.

Mavericks vs. Nuggets, 10 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Nov. 10

76ers vs. Pistons, 7 p.m.

Hornets vs. Wizards, 7 p.m.

Nets vs. Celtics, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Pelicans vs. Rockets, 8 p.m.

Jazz vs. Grizzlies, 8 p.m.

Timberwolves vs. Spurs, 8 p.m.

Clippers vs. Mavericks, 8:30 p.m.

Thunder vs. Kings, 10 p.m.

Lakers vs. Suns, 10 p.m., ESPN

Tuesday, Nov. 14

Heat vs. Hornets, 7 p.m.

Hawks vs. Pistons, 7 p.m.

Pacers vs. 76ers, 7 p.m.

Magic vs. Nets, 7:30 p.m.

Spurs vs. Thunder, 7:30 p.m., TNT

Mavericks vs. Pelicans, 8 p.m.

Trailblazers vs. Jazz, 9 p.m.

Timberwolves vs. Warriors, 10 p.m.

Clippers vs. Nuggets, 10 p.m., TNT

Grizzlies vs. Lakers, 10:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 17

Bucks vs. Hornets, 7 p.m.

Knicks vs. Wizards, 7 p.m.

Pistons vs. Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m.

Celtics vs. Raptors, 7:30 p.m.

76ers vs. Hawks, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Kings vs. Spurs, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Magic vs. Bulls, 8 p.m.

Nuggets vs. Pelicans, 8:30 p.m.

Lakers vs. Trailblazers, 10 p.m.

Suns vs. Jazz, 10 p.m., ESPN

Rockets vs. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 21

Raptors vs. Magic, 7 p.m.

Pacers vs. Hawks, 7:30 p.m.

Cavaliers vs. 76ers, 7:30 p.m., TNT

Trailblazers vs. Suns, 9 p.m.

Jazz vs. Lakers, 10 p.m., TNT

Friday, Nov. 24

Celtics vs. Magic, 2:30 p.m., NBA TV

Suns vs. Grizzlies, 5 p.m., NBA TV

Bulls vs. Raptors, 7:30 p.m.

Heat vs. Knicks, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

Pistons vs. Pacers, 8 p.m.

Nuggets vs. Rockets, 8 p.m.

Wizards vs. Bucks, 8 p.m.

Kings vs. Timberwolves, 8 p.m.

Spurs vs. Warriors, 10 p.m., ESPN

Pelicans vs. Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 28

Thunder vs. Timberwolves, 7 p.m.

Bulls vs. Celtics, 7:30 p.m.

Raptors vs. Nets, 7:30 p.m.

Hawks vs. Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m.

Hornets vs. Knicks, 7:30 p.m.

Bucks vs. Heat, 7:30 p.m., TNT

Rockets vs. Mavericks, 8:30 p.m.

Warriors vs. Kings, 10 p.m., TNT