The NBA in-season event kicked off final evening – and can present us barely totally different vibes for the remainder of November.

The event is an try to jazz up the start of the common season with new courts and an additional trophy. NBA followers have already accused the league of thrusting pointless which means onto the event video games – which additionally depend as common season video games – by advertising and marketing them as a part of a separate championship.

However the event isn’t simply lipstick on just a few regular-season pigs. (It’s, nonetheless, an excuse to slather inexperienced lipstick everywhere in the parquet pig that’s the Celtics’ new alternate courtroom.)

It’s additionally an actual event, with actual stakes – and a trophy! – that the Celtics are poised to stroll via and win. Right here’s a no-nonsense assessment of the tourney earlier than the Celtics become involved.

Group Play

The event begins out with a gaggle stage. Every staff performs 4 video games all through the month of November, vying for an opportunity to advance. These video games are constructed into the regular-season schedule and depend towards each staff’s general report. Not each November sport is for the event; each sport performed on Tuesdays and Fridays, with out exception, is a event sport within the month of November.

For the Celtics, the event begins on Friday in opposition to the Brooklyn Nets. After that, Boston will play the Toronto Raptors on the seventeenth, the Chicago Bulls on the twenty fourth, and the Orlando Magic on the twenty eighth.

Teams have been randomized by final 12 months’s regular-season standings. These 4 groups (Nets, Raptors, Bulls, Magic) plus the Celtics make up group C – all in all, a great draw for Boston. Of their 4 opponent,s solely the Nets made the playoffs final 12 months – they usually misplaced within the first spherical after buying and selling Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant throughout the season.

By comparability, the Milwaukee Bucks should face the New York Knicks and the Miami Warmth, each playoff groups final 12 months. The Philadelphia 76ers will play in opposition to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had the most effective protection within the league final 12 months, and the Indiana Pacers – who may shock numerous groups this 12 months, and on this event, with their velocity and depth.

Something can occur in a collection of 4 regular-season video games, however the hole between Boston and the remainder of the groups in group C is bigger than that of another staff within the league. The Celtics ought to transfer on.

Knockout Rounds

If the Celtics advance, both by successful their event group or securing a wild-card spot (there’s one for every convention, primarily based on greatest second-place report within the East and West), they may transfer on to single-elimination video games.

Quarterfinals can be performed Dec. 4-5. The semifinals and finals can be held in Las Vegas Dec. 7-9.

The knockout rounds are fairly easy: Eight groups advance (4 per convention). The staff with the most effective report within the convention will play the wildcard staff, and the 2 groups within the center play one another. The winners go to Vegas, the place they may play within the semis.

The quarter- and semifinals all depend towards the regular-season report. That’s why the schedule in December hasn’t been ironed out but – the league wants flexibility for the event.

The event championship is the one sport that doesn’t depend towards the regular-season report. The finalists will play for a trophy that appears like a flowery, empty ice cream cone. You’ll see loads of that trophy, too: It’s plastered within the center and within the paint of each in-season alternate courtroom.

The league additionally will identify an In-Season Match MVP and an All-Match Workforce.

The Celtics are simply the most effective staff within the league via 4 video games. They’re the one undefeated staff, and their internet ranking (+20.1) is 8 factors higher than another staff’s. Who is aware of how lengthy that can maintain up – issues change rapidly on this league – nevertheless it’s trying like Boston must be the favourite going into the event.

It’s a fantastic alternative to get excited in regards to the new-look Celtics, who may get their first piece of {hardware} in simply over a month.

And in the event you don’t prefer it, simply fake it’s regular-season basketball – even when these horrible courtroom designs will make it harder – as a result of, with one notable exception, it’s.