The Cleveland Cavaliers revealed their NBA In-Season Tournament group stage schedule in a Tuesday tweet.
The NBA revealed its complete Group Play schedule for its inaugural In-Season Tournament on Tuesday. The tournament will begin on Nov. 3 during next year’s regular season. Six group stage winners and two “Wild Card” teams will advance to the single-elimination Knockout round games, according to a Tuesday release.
Cleveland will take on two division rivals in the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons to kick off their Group Stage games. Cleveland swept the Pistons during their 2022-23 regular season games and went 3-1 against the Pacers. Indiana added forward Jarace Walker in the 2023 NBA Draft and re-signed guard Tyrese Haliburton to a five-year extension. The Pistons drafted former Overtime Elite guard Ausar Thompson with the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft. He averaged 13.5 points and 10 rebounds per game during the Pistons’ 2023 NBA Summer League run.
The Cavs will take on the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 21. Cleveland went 1-2 against Philly in their three regular-season matchups, capped off by a 118-109 loss to the 76ers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in March. Philadelphia signed guard Patrick Beverley and center Mo Bamba to one-year deals in the offseason. It hired Nick Nurse to become the team’s next head coach after he was fired by the Toronto Raptors in April.
The Sixers advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs following a four-game sweep over the Brooklyn Nets. They fell to the Boston Celtics in seven games behind the scoring of Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and guard Jaylen Brown, who averaged 29 and 22.9 points, respectively, during the second-round series.
Cleveland will round out its Group Stage games with a matchup against the Atlanta Hawks. It went 1-2 against Atlanta during the regular season. The Hawks re-signed guard Dejounte Murray to a four-year contract extension and acquired guard Patty Mills in a July trade.