How many games will be there in NBA Regular Season 2023-24?
The NBA regular season is only eight days away, with the Los Angeles Lakers set to travel to the league-champion Denver Nuggets to tip off what appears to be a supremely competitive season.
All 32 teams will continue to each play 82 games during the regular season. However, even for regular NBA fans, there needs to be a briefing this time regarding the schedule and format of things, as there are some changes introduced by the association to shake things up.
The success of the play-in tournament, the NBA's latest variation to the season format, has prompted the inclusion of another competition within the league. That, however, has led to some confusion with regard to how it will intertwine with the NBA regular season schedule. So, what exactly are the changes, and how will they affect the upcoming season?
How many games in NBA season 2023-24?
Firstly, it's to be noted that the changes aren't as drastic as one would expect. There are no additional games that will be played, at least with respect to the composition of the regular season. This means there will still only be 82 games per team in the NBA regular season.
While there's the new in-season tournament to watch out for, players do not have to worry about additional wear and tear beyond what the competitive intensity might bring out.
The tournament will comprise two stages, the group and knockout stage, and the winner is set to receive the honor of being the first-ever winner of the NBA Cup.
The tournament even has a prize pool to incentivize teams to prioritize the games. The fact that the games also count towards their NBA regular season record is the obvious motivator, but the prize pool certainly won't hurt either.
In-season tournament within NBA regular season will also add individual award to trophies up for grabs
As we all know, the league is a product of its stars. Naturally, rewarding them becomes important.
While there are a bunch of awards available to the stars, the NBA Cup and its MVP trophy add to what's available in the pool for bragging rights. Adding an award while not adding the workload definitely needs to be seen as a win by Adam Silver and Co.
How will the in-season tournament take place if there are no additional regular-season games? To not mess with the existing system of how teams face each other within their conferences, the in-season tournament has also been structured with a conference separation in place.
Three groups of five form part of each conference, and the allotment of teams took place on the basis of a lottery-based system, which put teams in separate pots based on their regular season record in 2022-23.
There will be designated "Tournament Nights" throughout the season, on which the fixtures corresponding to the in-season tournament shall play out. Eight teams will make it out of the group stage to the knockouts - the top-placed team in each group and the two best second-placed teams. The knockouts will be single game, leaving a lot to play there.
The NBA regular season schedule will still comprise 82 games, but this time out, some of those games will hold additional value. November 3 marks the first of the "Tournament Nights," and the fandom certainly has something to look for in this new addition.