NBA is back with its in-season tournament for the second consecutive season and this time rebranded as the NBA Cup. The Lakers won their first regular season tournament last season by beating the Pacers in Las Vegas. Now, All 30 teams have a chance to lift the cup All league tournament matches start on Tuesday.

And yes, the NBA is back for the second year in a row with its wacky, colorful arenas. This is part of the NBA Cup sale, where the league wants more people to wonder what’s special and attract more attention. That’s why every NBA Cup has these special courts — All 30 unique courts can be seen here. More importantly, all NBA Cup games will count towards each team’s regular season record. There is one exception: Finals will not count towards the team’s record or the player’s statistics for the season.

“I think it’s fun,” Jrue Holiday said. “I think we’re striving for something else in the middle of the season. Being able to win a cup and go to Vegas is something I think every team should strive for. I feel like that’s something we’re trying to do. Of course we’re going to win every game, but knowing it’s a tournament, it’s another milestone we can achieve.” “There is.”

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NBA Cup rules are simple and not much has changed from last year. All 30 teams were randomly selected into six different groups based on their win-loss records for the 2023-24 season. There are three groups in each conference: East A, East B, East C, West A, West B and West B.

Here’s a look at each group:

East A: Knicks, Magic, 76ers, Nets, Hornets

Eastern B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors, Pistons

Eastern C: Celtics, Cavaliers, Bulls, Hawks, Wizards

West A: Timberwolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets, Trail Blazers

West B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz, Spurs

West C: Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors, Grizzlies

NBA Cup matches will start with group play on Tuesday and continue until December 3. Each team will play four matches against the rest of their group as part of group play. The best team in each group will advance to the quarter-finals with a “wild card” selected from each conference. The wildcard team will be selected based on tiebreakers that include point difference, total points and more. This became important in the East C, where the Celtics, Magic and Nets were at the top at 3-1, but the C pulled ahead as they had the best point differential. (As a note, overtime scores will not be included in the point difference, as each team will receive a “0” in this regard, regardless of the final score.)

From here on out, the knockout stages are all single-elimination games. Quarter-final matches will be played in the domestic market on December 10-11. The semifinals (December 14) and finals (December 17) will be played in Las Vegas. New matches will be added to the schedules of the teams that lose in the group matches or quarter-finals, just like the regular season matches.

Winners of the NBA Cup will receive the trophy as well as $500,000 for each player. Losing in the championship game is a $200,000 bonus. There are also rewards for reaching the semifinals ($100,000) and quarterfinals ($50,000). There will also be a tournament MVP and All-Tournament team. The Lakers unfurled a banner for winning the tournament last year.