NBA: there will be a new cup in the middle of the calendar

The National Basketball League (NBA) confirmed the new midseason tournament – between November 3 and December 9 – that will have the cup format and will count towards the classification, except for the championship game. Objective of many years for the directors of the league, finally the NBA Cup was made official in social networks. The contest, which will begin on November 3 and will feature games Tuesdays and Thursdays -except November 7 for elections-, will have its outcome in the city of Las Vegas. There will also be an extra motivation in the prizes: the winner will take 500 thousand dollars, the runner-up 200 thousand, the semifinalists who were defeated will get 100 thousand and those who reached the quarterfinals will accumulate 50 thousand. ” It’s a concept that’s been rumbling through the league’s offices for 15 years. It’s not a new concept in sport. For those who follow international football, it is a long tradition to have championships within the season… then we thought it was the perfect opportunity for a global league like the NBA,” explained commissioner Adam Silver.Divided into groups of five franchises, the teams will face each other in direct crossovers and the six winners will advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best runners-up. Also, the groups -already established- were created by dividing each conference into five separate pots according to the classification in the regular phase of the last year. From those pots, the NBA randomly selected a team to create three groups of teams “matched” against each other at the competition level.
Until the championship final, which will take place on Saturday, December 9 and will not count towards the classification, the East and West franchises will only play against opponents from their conference.

Original source in Spanish