The NBA In-Season Tournament is here. The Philadelphia 76ers will make their tourney debut in the second slate of games as they strive for a new goal and look to build upon their impressive opening to the 2023-24 season.

The league's new tournament aims to break up the monotony of the regular season and give teams something else to strive for. The Sixers, one of the hottest teams to start the season, should be in contention to win the NBA Cup. While the ultimate goal is and always will be the Larry O'Brien trophy, teams may find themselves looking to compete for the new prize.

The Sixers will play at least four in-season tournament games, referred to as Group Play. The Knockout Rounds will include the winners from each group (the Sixers are in East Group A) and the best team in each conference that did not win its group as a wild card. The three-round playoff will feature prize money for both the players and coaches.

Here are the Sixers' In-Season Tournament games and bold predictions for them.

Sixers In-Season Tournament Schedule & Opponents

Detroit Pistons — Friday, Nov. 10 at Little Caesars Arena, 7:00 PM EST

To start, the Sixers will face a young Pistons squad in Detroit. The Pistons run a big lineup with Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren providing physicality alongside former first-overall pick Cade Cunningham and standout rookie Ausar Thompson. Despite its poor record to start the season, this team plays hard and, if they ever decide to give Jaden Ivey a more prominent role than Killian Hayes, could be dangerous.

The Pistons' In-Season Tournament court is mostly gray with a sharp shade of red down the middle. Detroit's alternate branding is inspired by the “Bad Boys” teams that won back-to-back NBA championships in the late 1980s.

Indiana Pacers — Tuesday, Nov. 14 at Wells Fargo Center, 7:00 PM EST

The Sixers will host the Pacers in their first home In-Season Tournament game. The Pacers are 1-0 in tournament Group Play after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers on their Los Angeles Chargers-esque court. Tyrese Haliburton leads the charge for a deep Indy team featuring Myles Turner, Bruce Brown and Bennedict Mathurin.

The Sixers' In-Season Tournament court is mostly red with a navy-blue stripe and the retro team logo at center court.

Atlanta Hawks — Friday, Nov. 17 at State Farm Arena, 7:30 PM EST

The Sixers and Hawks will see each other on a Friday night in Atlanta for Philly's third Group Play game. Although Trae Young has been less sharp than expected to start the season, the Hawks' stellar depth — eight players average double-digit points — has made them one of the winningest teams and best offenses in the early goings of this season.

The Hawks' In-Season Tournament court features two shades of light blue, which pays homage to the uniforms they wore back in 1968.

Cleveland Cavaliers — Tuesday, Nov. 21 at Wells Fargo Center, 7:30 PM EST

This one will be broadcast nationally on TNT. Featuring old friend Georges Niang, the Cavs are 0-1 in group play so far after losing to the Pacers. Cleveland is stacked with talent, boasting a quartet of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Although they have a losing record through their first eight games, the Cavs could be the Sixers' biggest competition to win the group.

Games not yet scheduled 

The NBA has designated two days in December (Wednesday the 6th and Friday the 8th) for regular-season games for the teams that do not qualify for the Knockout Rounds.

The Knockout Rounds will play quarterfinal matchups on December 4 and December 5, the semifinals on December 7 and the tournament championship on December 9. The last two rounds will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Sixers In-Season Tournament Bold Predictions

The Sixers lose just one Group Play game, but not to the Cavs

Going 4-0 is totally in play for the Sixers but they’ll likely slip up at least once. Given the uncertain nature of the tournament, the Sixers may end up beating the Cavs but losing to an inferior opponent.

The Pacers and Hawks are both legitimately good teams so far this season with a star guard that can both score very well and pass at an elite level. Young is flanked by Dejounte Murray, a strong two-way presence who has been very good to start the season. If a wing scorer like Mathurin, Buddy Hield, Bogdan Bogdanovic or Saddiq Bey gets hot, Philly could find itself in a shootout that goes either way.

While the Pistons are still trying to find their foothold, they've got the athletic prowess to muck up the game or the Sixers. They'll have the advantage of home court, too. Philly is better than all of the four teams in its group but none of them are pushovers.

Kelly Oubre Jr. shines

“I don’t see myself fitting in, I see myself standing out,” Oubre said at the Sixers' training camp.

The NBA In-Season Tournament is looking to stand out, too — namely with its usage of wacky court colors and unique designs. The flashiness and energy Oubre declared he would show (and has shown) is a perfect match. Philly has plenty of role players who could have a hot shooting night but Oubre, a microwave scorer who has shot the ball very well to begin the season, is the most likely to go off on basketball's biggest stage — er, well, at least a stage bigger than typical.

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey should still be great for Philly, as they have been all season long, but the in-season tournament could very well be Oubre's time to shine.

The Sixers beat the Mavericks in the tournament championship

The previous prediction that the Sixers would be the first NBA In-Season Tournament champions looks much, much better now than it did when details of the tournament were first announced. Philly has been elite on both ends of the floor, has a deep rotation and both Embiid and Maxey have been spectacular.

They aren’t without competition, of course. The Boston Celtics can go toe-to-toe with anyone and the Milwaukee Bucks, despite having plenty of irons to wrinkle out (namely on defense), still have a superstar duo to rely on. But the stars might be aligning for a historical underachiever to seize victory in a tournament that not everyone knows whether to be excited over — or knows about in general.

How do things shape up in the Western Conference? The Denver Nuggets are still beasts in the West but with Jamal Murray now dealing with a hamstring injury, their firepower is diminished. The Golden State Warriors look pretty good, too. But the first interaction of the In-Season Tournament is where surprise teams have the chance to do funny things. Enter a superstar-led squad that missed the playoffs last year.

The Dallas Mavericks' hot start is more of a surprise than its other foes in the West. Despite one of their starters (Dereck Lively II) being a rookie and another (Derrick Jones Jr.) being a bench player on the Chicago Bulls last season, they have a 6-2 record and one of the NBA's best offenses despite Kyrie Irving shooting worse than usual.

Luka Doncic can outplay any player on any given night and has a highly competitive gear that comes out in big games. If he buys into the NBA In-Season Tournament enough, he could will Dallas to the final stage whether they beat out Denver for their group's top spot or make it in as the wild-card team.

The Sixers and Mavs facing off in the tournament finale would make for some incredible hoops. Embiid would probably have a very easy time scoring against the skinny, inexperienced Lively but Philly's defense would be in for a big test against Doncic and Irving. Philly’s superior defense and coaching advantage of Nick Nurse over Jason Kidd could very well be the difference in the one-game setting.