Tuesday marks the final day of group play games for the first NBA In-Season Tournament, and the Phoenix Suns are in great position to secure the Western Conference wild card spot.
Over the last few weeks, specially designated games on Tuesdays and Fridays have counted toward this In-Season Tournament, scheduled to begin next week. Sporting a 3-1 record and a +34 point differential in four group stage matchups, the Suns will more than likely snag the final spot on the Western Conference side of the bracket. That will almost certainly mean facing the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.
The NBA’s attempt to inject extra meaning into the early stages of its winding regular season has been a strangely controversial topic, but make no mistake about it: Phoenix wants to get in and win the first ever NBA Cup.
“I ain’t gonna lie, at first I was like, ‘Eh,’ but I like it,” Josh Okogie said. “I hope we can get in there.”
Change is almost always met with resistance at the start. The reaction to the NBA’s play-in games felt similar, until the games began and fans immediately saw how much fun they could inject into the playoff format.
At their very worst, In-Season Tournament games have been elevated regular-season games dressed up in fancier wrapping. At their best, they’ve been more competitive outings, with slightly higher ratings, adding some extra spice to the portion of the sports calendar where most fans are still glued to football.
Before the games began, Kevin Durant sounded skeptical about how much the players were incentivized to care, calling it “regularly scheduled programming.” But in his mind, that’s because players already want to win every night. From what we’ve seen, the In-Season Tournament games have dialed up that competitive fire a bit, giving fans more to care about in the process.
“For the fans, it’s an opportunity to know that there’s more at stake throughout the regular season, ’cause fans only want to watch the playoffs and the series and the high-intense moments,” Durant explained. “So the NBA creating a high-intense moment in a regular season since a lot of fans were complaining about stuff like that years prior. So hopefully they enjoy it this year. I know the players are gonna come out and try to play as hard as they can every game and make for good product on the floor.”
That good product has been on display, despite a few recent blowouts skewing the averages. The NBA is known for being willing to experiment, and awarding $500,000 to each player (and head coach) on the team that wins it all adds enough stakes to promote competition without adding too much stakes that will affect the playoffs. It allows this tournament to stand alone and have a chance to build its own lore, independent of the main prize that awaits at the end of the season.
“It’s just something that’s different, man,” Devin Booker said. “I think it’s evolving the game, it’s growing the game. I don’t know the stat on it, but I feel like the games have been higher intensity, something to play for — maybe that half a million dollars everybody wants. But it’s been fun, I like it.
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