NBA in-season tournament: Detroit Pistons details on format, schedule, uniforms, TV

The Detroit Pistons have a chance to add a trophy to the franchise’s collection this season in the inaugural NBA in-season tournament, which begins Friday.

The brand-new tournament includes all 30 teams and will span from Friday, Nov. 3 until Dec. 9. The teams are competing for the NBA Cup, the name of the championship trophy, and $500,000 for each player on the winning roster.

Here is a breakdown of all the details of the in-season tournament for the Pistons:

Tournament format & prizes

The teams were split into six groups of five, three in the East and three in the West, based on their 2022-23 records for round-robin group play. The six group winners plus a “wild card” team from each conference will advance to the eight-team quarterfinals. The bracket turns into single-elimination at that point, similar to the World Cup, and each team in the knockout rounds will receive a financial bonus.

The prize pool includes monetary bonuses for each player on a team that reaches the knockout round. It is $50,000 per player for quarterfinal losers, $100,000 each for semifinal losers, $200,000 each for championship losers and $500,000 for each champion. An all-tournament team and MVP will also be awarded.

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Pistons in-season tournament group & selection process

The groups were randomly selected from “pots” of teams based on their 2022-23 records. The groups were ordered 1-5 with Pot 1 being the teams that finished first, second and third in the conference standings last season. Pot 2 was comprised of the teams that finished fourth through sixth, and so on.

One team from each pot was randomly selected to be placed in a group together as a way to try to maintain competitive balance. Since the Pistons finished with the worst record in the Eastern Conference (17-65) last season, they were placed in Pot 5, along with the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets.

The Pistons were drawn into the “East A” group along with the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers. The Pistons had a combined 2-13 record against these teams last season, with the only two wins coming over the Pacers.

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Pistons in-season tournament schedule

The Pistons will play each team in their group once in a round-robin format, with two games at home and two on the road. The in-season gauntlet begins Friday for some teams but the Pistons do not have a tournament game until next Friday against the 76ers.

The first two in-season tournament games for Detroit will be at Little Caesars Arena and the last two group games will be on the road. The Pistons host the Hawks on Nov. 14. The Pistons then play at Cleveland on Nov. 17 and at Indiana on Nov. 24.

The Pistons' group stage games will be aired on Bally Sports Detroit. Each game in the knockout stage will be nationally televised.

If the Pistons make it through the group stage, the quarterfinal matchup will take place on either Dec. 4 or 5. The semifinals are Dec. 7 and the championship is Dec. 9.

Pistons odds for in-season tournament

The Pistons are the clear longshot to win East Group A, according to betting odds on sportsbooks. The Sixers and Cavs are a close 1-2 as favorites, then the next tier has the Hawks and Pacers, with the Pistons lagging well behind, with odds as long as 16-to-1 (FanDuel).

The Pistons can be found with 100-to-1 odds to win the entire tournament, the very bottom among the 30-team league.

The Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks are the favorites to win the tournament.

Alternate court & city jerseys

The NBA announced every team will use an alternate, colorful court during in-season tournament games to go along with each team’s City jerseys.

The Pistons’ court is all-gray split by a red column in the middle of the court. The half-court logo is the NBA Cup trophy with Pistons spelled in white cursive lettering over the top.

The court goes along with the Pistons’ City Edition jerseys, which are all-black with red trim, white lettering, gray numbers, and a basketball and crossbones design down the sides as an homage to the Bad Boys era.

Do in-season tournament games count towards the Pistons’ overall record?

Yes.

All in-season tournament games besides the championship game will count towards a team’s regular season records and stats. The NBA only scheduled 76 games for each team outside of the tournament, meaning the four round-robin games and the quarterfinal and semifinal will count.

The NBA will schedule two games for all teams that do not advance out of the group stages. The games will take place during the same week as the quarterfinal and semifinal games to even out games played between all teams. The stats and results from the championship will exist separate from the regular season.

If the Pistons do not advance, their two extra games against fellow tournament losers will be on Dec. 6 and 8.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: NBA in-season tournament: Detroit Pistons' details, format and more