3 Denver Nuggets bold predictions for In-Season Tournament
By Sam LaFrance
On Tuesday afternoon, the Denver Nuggets learned when they would be playing their group-stage games for the NBA’s new In-Season Tournament.
The league’s newest product gives the early months of the season a bit more spice, with all 30 franchises fighting to become mid-season champions. Throughout November, teams will compete in six groups of five, facing off against each team in their group on time.
Denver is in the Western Conference’s Group C. They’ll be battling the LA Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, and Houston Rockets for a chance to advance in the competition.
The Nuggets’ group-stage schedule looks like this:
- Friday, Nov. 3: Home vs. Dallas
- Tuesday, Nov. 14: Home vs. LA
- Friday, Nov. 17: Away at New Orleans
- Friday, Nov. 24: Away at Houston
The team in each group with the best record will move on, along with two wild-card teams in each conference to the single-elimination knockout stage. Then, the competition will head to Las Vegas for the semi-finals (December 7) and final (December 9). Though the new competition doesn’t have a ton of merit just yet, teams will still have a reason to care. Every game in the tournament will be factored into each team’s regular-season record, excluding the championship game.
On top of that, all players on the winning team will receive a $500,000 bonus as a prize. Not that that will necessarily make them care, but it would be cool if the tournament had some extra juice to it.
So, what should Nuggets fans expect from their team, as they look to conquer Adam Silver’s newest creation?
Here are a few predictions: