For the first time ever, regular season games will count for more than just a win or loss.
Group play of the inaugural in-season tournament begins Friday. For the Warriors, that’ll mean their game against the Thunder in Oklahoma City will be one of four games that will determine if they advance to the knockout round of the tournament.
Group play games will be held on Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 3 to Nov. 28. For Golden State, that means Friday’s game against the Thunder, Nov. 14 against Minnesota, Nov. 24 against the Spurs and Nov. 28 in Sacramento.
The only incentive of the in-season tournament is cash prizes and the NBA Cup trophy. Asked Wednesday about if he plans on coaching in-season tournament games any differently than he would regular season games, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr had a quip ready.
“I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it, then they told us that the coaching staff gets a big bonus if you win it. So, Steph’s going 48 (minutes), we’re locked in on the in-season tournament.”
Kerr has said that he prefers to keep Curry in the range of 32 minutes, a target that has become easier this year with the presence of Chris Paul. It’s hard to imagine the head coach overextending his best players early in the season simply because they’re playing in-season tournament games.
“It’s going to be really interesting,” Kerr said. “You also have the court designs and stuff. There’s going to be a different feel, for sure. Since we’ve never been through this, it’s hard to really know what to expect. I do think the competitive nature of all the players and coaches in this league — I think everyone’s going to want to win it.”
The idea of the in-season tournament is to inject more excitement and intensity to the pre-Christmas regular season portion of the schedule, which typically doesn’t draw as much eyeballs as it competes with the NFL and college football.
Each tournament game will be played on a customized, special court design. Each contest, except for the championship, will count towards each team’s final regular season record.
From any standpoint, the risk of trying the new format seems low. If intensity levels rise and games that may have otherwise been dull become more compelling, that’s great for everyone. If they’re just normal, regular season games that don’t draw interest, the league can tweak the incentive structure or drop the ploy altogether in the future.
“Guys are going to go hard,” Kerr said. “I think it’s good. I like what the league is doing. I think it’s got potential to be really fun, so I’m all in.”