This internal tournament, the results of which count for the regular season ranking, sees the 30 teams in the league divided into 6 groups of 5 for the group stage. Until December 3, teams from the same group will compete once each. The 6 winners of each group as well as 2 drafted will compete in the final phase, in direct elimination, with the semi-finals and the final played in Las Vegas in December. In 2023, LeBron James‘ Los Angeles Lakers won the first edition.
In San Francisco, Steph Curry (37 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds) was the executioner of the Dallas Mavericks of his former “Splash Brother”, Klay Thompson. The Warriors triumphed (120-117) on the occasion of the return of Thompson (22 points) against the colors he defended for 13 seasons.
Atlanta created a surprise by inflicting its third defeat of the season on Boston, at TD Garden (116-117). Jaylen Brown’s 37 points were countered by a triple-double from Jalen Johnson (18 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) supported by the Georgian collective.