SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs will be looking to make NBA history and capture the league's first In-Season Tournament title.
The NBA is introducing a new in-season tournament next season. The Spurs have been lumped into Group C with the Wolves, Warriors, Thunder, and Kings.
The new annual competition is for all 30 teams and the league has announced the Spurs' slate:
- Wolves, 7:00 P.M. CT (home)
- Thunder, 6:30 P.M. CT (away), TNT
- Kings, 6:30 P.M. CT (home), ESPN
- Warriors, 7:00 P.M. CT (away), ESPN
The tournament will tip off on Friday, Nov. 3 in NBA team markets and culminate with the playing of the Semifinals (Thursday, Dec. 7) and Championship (Saturday, Dec. 9) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“We are excited to introduce the NBA In-Season Tournament as an opportunity to further enhance and innovate around our season structure,” said Joe Dumars, NBA's head of basketball operations. “With the addition of this new marquee event on the NBA calendar, we are focused on providing players and teams with another competition to win, engaging fans in a different way and driving further interest in the early portion of the regular-season schedule.”
However, it might be a short tournament run for the Spurs according to Las Vegas odds.
Oddsmaker Caesars Sportsbook is projecting the Spurs to not even be a factor in the tournament. The San Antonio odds are set at +6000 to capture the tournament title.
The team is tied with the Blazers, and Hornets with the same odds while the Wizards and Pistons have the worst odds to win the tournament at +8000.
In addition, the Spurs have the worst odds within Group C at +1400 odds.
The favorite to win the tournament is Boston with +650 odds according to Caesars Sportsbook.
What do you have to say, Spurs fans? Do you like this new NBA tournament? Let us know on Twitter at @KENS5 and at @JeffGSpursKENS5.