Rivalries pick back up as In-Season Tournament shifts to Knockout Rounds

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The NBA’s first In-Season Tournament is new. Its quarterfinal matchups are anything but.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. A little built-in rivalry can add context to these asterisked 2023-24 regular season games. It’s merely a quirk of Group Play that the Knockout Rounds pairings all have been seen at least once in the first five-plus weeks.

Now these teams will face each other five times by mid-April. Five or more meetings in a season hasn’t happened since the league expanded to 29 teams in 1995-96. (It’s still a far cry from the days of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell butting heads 12 times each season in the early 1960s).

Adding flavor to the Battles for Las Vegas — where the Tournament semifinals and championship game will be held — are individual stars. Four of the league’s Top 10 scorers have reached the quarterfinals: Kevin Durant (31.3 ppg, No. 2), De’Aaron Fox (30.7, No. 4), Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.1, No. 6) and Jayson Tatum (27.7, No. 10). The bracket also boasts the leading assists man, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton (11.9), and the third-leading rebounder, Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis (11.6).

Update: Monday night’s quarterfinal action saw the Pacers defeat the Celtics to advance, while the Pelicans took out the Kings on the road.

Two tickets to Vegas have been punched.

The Pacers and Pelicans advance to the In-Season Tournament Semifinals ‼️

Quarterfinals continue Tuesday night on TNT pic.twitter.com/00x1iWnblJ

— NBA (@NBA) December 5, 2023

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Eastern Conference

New York at Milwaukee, Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT)

So far: The Bucks won 110-105 on Nov. 3 at Fiserv Forum in the first In-Season Tournament game for both teams. Milwaukee’s bench outscored New York’s 33-21 to overcome Jalen Brunson’s 45-point barrage.

Key matchup: Jalen Brunson vs. Damian Lillard. Brunson is the Knicks’ motor, leading them in points, assists, shots and 3-point percentage. He averaged 24.7 ppg last season against the Bucks but shot just 41.9% and 27.8% from deep. Lillard scored 30 in the November meeting and has averaged 25.9 ppg and shot 41.9% on 3-pointers in his career against New York.

Notes: The Bucks got here as one of the four 4-0 teams in Group Play, while the Knicks routed Charlotte Tuesday to earn the wild card on points. New York is one of the top rebounding teams with an NBA-best 53.9% percentage. Milwaukee is average, all but conceding the offensive boards (26th of 30).

New York’s season has been dependent on beating lesser teams and is 2-7 against teams over .500. … Antetokounmpo and Lillard have been building chemistry in pick-and-rolls, but Khris Middleton’s ramp-up (knee) is just as important. They are 6-1 when he plays at least 20 minutes.

Pick: Bucks. Milwaukee’s season so far under first-year coach Adrian Griffin has been bumpier than its 13-5 record indicates, so Tournament game or not, this is simply more classroom to be its best self. New York would love a trip to Nevada, but this layover in Milwaukee could scuttle that.

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Western Conference

Phoenix at Los Angeles Lakers, Tuesday (10 p.m. ET, TNT)

So far: The Lakers have beaten the Suns twice, first in L.A. on Oct. 26 and then in the In-Season opener for both on Nov. 10 in Phoenix.

Key matchup: LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant. It’s not a 1-on-1 clash since each will face different defenders. These two future Hall of Famers have met 23 times in the regular season, with almost identical scoring averages (27.3 for Durant, 27.2 for James) but a huge outcome advantage for LeBron (17-6).

Notes: Shorthanded or not, the Lakers’ 44-point drubbing in Philadelphia Monday was a gut-check, especially defensively (they rank 26th in opponents’ made 3s). And L.A. is 3-6 when Anthony Davis fails to score 20 or more.

Suns guard Bradley Beal continues to be waylaid by back/leg pain. … Phoenix’s 8-2 record with Devin Booker is a case of good news-bad news. As a de facto point guard, he is averaging a career-best 8.5 assists without losing his scoring touch (27 ppg, 40% on 3-pointers). But he pushes to return from injuries, only to get hurt again, explaining his repeat absences.

Pick: Lakers. Phoenix hasn’t had its guys and won’t feel any shame missing out on Las Vegas with title aspirants such as Denver and Philadelphia. No one, meanwhile, has been more openly enthusiastic about the In-Season Tournament than James, whom the league would be pleased to see hoisting the inaugural NBA Cup and MVP hardware.

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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