The NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament has officially reached the midway point of the group stage portion of the event. Seven teams remain undefeated, but the NBA champion Nuggets are no longer in that club after the host Pelicans beat Denver Friday night. With the win New Orleans moved to 2-1, but more importantly took over the top spot the West B group by virtue of now owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Nuggets and by seeing the Clippers post their first victory of the James Harden era after Los Angeles beat the Houston Rockets who had been 1-0 in group play.
In other West action, the Lakers (3-0) now standalone atop Group A after the Suns beat the Jazz. And the Kings (2-0) vaulted into first place in Group C on the strength of +16 point differential, which is six points better than the +10 of the Timberwolves (2-0). Those two teams will square off in a West C battle on Friday in Minnesota. The current wild card leader are the Jazz who with their +19 point differential have a 10-point cushion over the Nuggets' +9.
With a monster 31-point victory over the Hornets, the Bucks (2-0) leapfrog over the Heat (2-0) to take command of the East B group based on a point differential of +36 for Milwaukee to +13 for Miami. Should both teams move to 3-0, the head-to-head matchup on Nov. 28 in Miami would determine who wins that group. The Pacers (East A) and Celtics (East C), who were both idle on Friday, remain the leaders in their groups at 2-0. If the group play ended today, the Heat (2-0) would advance as the wild card just nudging out the 76ers (2-0) due to having a one-point edge in point differential.
Here's a quick refresher on what to expect in the In-Season Tournament. The league has divided each conference into three five-team groups. Those teams will play group stage games on Tuesdays and Fridays in November. The teams are debuting this season's city edition uniforms and the games will be played on specially-designed courts.
Once all five teams in each group have played one another, the top eight will advance to the knockout stage in early December. Those eight teams will include the six group winners along with one wild-card team in each conference.
Below is the 2023 In-Season Tournament schedule, scores, standings and more. All games on ESPN and NBA TV are streaming on fubo (try for free).
NBA In-Season Tournament schedule
(All times Eastern)
Tuesday, Nov. 21
Raptors at Magic, 7 p.m.
Pacers at Hawks, 7:30 p.m.
Cavaliers at 76ers, 7:30 p.m.
Trail Blazers at Suns, 9 p.m.
Jazz at Lakers, 10 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 24
Celtics at Magic, 2:30 p.m.
Suns at Grizzlies, 5 p.m.
Heat at Knicks, 7:30 p.m.
Bulls at Raptors, 7:30 p.m.
Pistons at Pacers, 8 p.m.
Nuggets at Rockets, 8 p.m.
Wizards at Bucks, 8 p.m.
Kings at Timberwolves, 8 p.m.
Spurs at Warriors, 10 p.m.
Pelicans at Clippers, 10:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 28
Bulls at Celtics, 7:30 p.m.
Raptors at Nets, 7:30 p.m.
Hawks at Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m.
Bucks at Heat, 7:30 p.m.
Hornets at Knicks, 7:30 p.m.
Thunder at Timberwolves, 8 p.m.
Rockets at Mavericks, 8:30 p.m.
Warriors at Kings, 10 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 4
Quarterfinal: TBD at TBD
Quarterfinal: TBD at TBD
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Quarterfinal: TBD at TBD
Quarterfinal: TBD at TBD
Thursday, Dec. 7
Semifinal: TBD vs. TBD at Las Vegas
Semifinal: TBD vs. TBD at Las Vegas
Saturday, Dec. 9
Final: TBD vs. TBD at Las Vegas
NBA In-season Tournament scores, results
Friday, Nov. 17
Bucks 130, Hornets 99
Knicks 120, Wizards 99
76ers 126, Hawks 116
Cavaliers 108, Pistons 100
Celtics 108, Raptors 105
Kings 129, Spurs 120
Magic 103, Bulls 97
Pelicans 115, Nuggets 110
Suns 131, Jazz 128
Lakers 107, Trail Blazers 95
Clippers 104, Rockets 100
Tuesday, Nov. 14
Heat 111, Hornets 105
Hawks 126, Pistons 120
Pacers 132, 76ers 126
Nets 124, Magic 104
Thunder 123, Spurs 87
Pelicans 131, Mavericks 110
Jazz 115, Trail Blazers 99
Nuggets 111, Clippers 108
Timberwolves 104, Warriors 101
Lakers 134, Grizzlies 107
Friday, Nov. 10
76ers 114, Pistons 106
Hornets 124, Wizards 117
Celtics 121, Nets 107
Rockets 104, Pelicans 101
Jazz 127, Grizzlies 121
Timberwolves 117, Spurs 110
Mavericks 144, Clippers 126
Kings 105, Thunder 98
Lakers 122, Suns 119
Friday, Nov. 3
Pacers 121, Cavaliers 116
Bucks 110, Knicks 105
Heat 121, Wizards 114
Nets 109, Bulls 107
Warriors 141, Thunder 139
Nuggets 125, Mavericks 114
Trail Blazers 115, Grizzlies 113 (OT)
Eastern Conference Group A standings
Wins |
Losses |
Points Scored |
Point Differential |
|
Indiana Pacers |
2 |
0 |
253 |
+11 |
Philadelphia 76ers |
2 |
1 |
366 |
+12 |
Cleveland Cavaliers |
1 |
1 |
224 |
+3 |
Atlanta Hawks |
1 |
1 |
242 |
-4 |
Detroit Pistons E |
0 |
3 |
326 |
-22 |
Eastern Conference Group B standings
Wins |
Losses |
Points Scored |
Point Differential |
|
Milwaukee Bucks |
2 |
0 |
240 |
+36 |
Miami Heat |
2 |
0 |
232 |
+13 |
New York Knicks |
1 |
1 |
225 |
+16 |
Charlotte Hornets |
1 |
2 |
328 |
-30 |
Washington Wizards E |
0 |
3 |
330 |
-35 |
Eastern Conference Group C standings
Wins |
Losses |
Points Scored |
Point Differential |
|
Boston Celtics |
2 |
0 |
229 |
+17 |
Brooklyn Nets |
2 |
1 |
340 |
+8 |
Orlando Magic |
1 |
1 |
207 |
-14 |
Toronto Raptors |
0 |
1 |
105 |
-3 |
Chicago Bulls |
0 |
2 |
204 |
-8 |
Western Conference Group A standings
Wins |
Losses |
Points Scored |
Point Differential |
|
Los Angeles Lakers |
3 |
0 |
363 |
+42 |
Utah Jazz |
2 |
1 |
370 |
+19 |
Phoenix Suns |
1 |
1 |
250 |
0 |
Portland Trail Blazers |
1 |
2 |
309 |
-26 |
Memphis Grizzlies E |
0 |
3 |
341 |
-35 |
Western Conference Group B standings
Wins |
Losses |
Points Scored |
Point Differential |
|
New Orleans Pelicans |
2 |
1 |
347 |
+23 |
Denver Nuggets |
2 |
1 |
346 |
+9 |
Houston Rockets |
1 |
1 |
204 |
-3 |
Dallas Mavericks |
1 |
2 |
368 |
-14 |
Los Angeles Clippers |
1 |
2 |
340 |
-15 |
Western Conference Group C standings
Wins |
Losses |
Points Scored |
Point Differential |
|
Sacramento Kings |
2 |
0 |
234 |
+16 |
Minnesota Timberwolves |
2 |
0 |
221 |
+10 |
Golden State Warriors |
1 |
1 |
242 |
-1 |
Oklahoma City Thunder |
1 |
2 |
366 |
+27 |
San Antonio Spurs E |
0 |
3 |
317 |
-52 |
A = clinched berth to advance
W = clinched wild card
E = eliminated