INDIANAPOLIS – The NBA’s in-season tournament is back as teams vie for the Emirates NBA Cup. The Indiana Pacers hope to make another splash this year after reaching the championship game last season. Cup play started leaguewide on Tuesday night and will run through Dec. 3. Teams will play tournament games on Tuesdays and Fridays. Last season, the NBA referred to the competition as the In-Season Tournament. The league renamed it the Emirates NBA Cup for 2024. How the NBA Cup works The league divided all 30 teams into six groups of five, keeping teams in their respective conferences. Each team will face the others in its group once, with two road games and two home games in Group Play. At the end of Group Play, the tournament moves into the Knockout Rounds. Eight teams will make the field: the winners of each group and two “wild cards”—a team from each conference that finished with the best record but didn’t win its group. The Quarterfinals are up first. The eight teams advancing from Group Play will play single-elimination games on Dec. 10 and Dec. 11. That will then whittle the field down to four teams for the Semifinals. While Quarterfinal games will be played in NBA team markets, the tournament moves to Las Vegas for the Semifinal (Dec. 14) and Championship (Dec. 17) rounds. All NBA Cup games count toward the regular season standings with the exception of the Championship. Teams are competing for the NBA Cup and a monetary prize pool. Pacers in the Cup The Pacers landed in East Group B, a collection of teams that includes the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons. Their Cup schedule looks like this: Nov. 15 vs. Miami Heat Nov. 22 at Milwaukee Bucks Nov. 29 vs. Detroit Pistons Dec. 3 at Toronto Raptors When the Pacers play Cup games at home, they’ll do so on a brand-new court. While last year’s eye-popping (or eye-gouging) court was based on its “City Edition” uniforms, this year’s court pays tribute to Bobby “Slick” Leonard, the former coach who became a Pacers broadcaster and shouted, “Boom baby!” when the Pacers connected from long range. “Boom baby” appears in large letters on the court, with a smaller “Boom baby!” emblem on one of the sidelines near midcourt. The court includes also three graphics of the NBA Cup: one at center court one in each lane. It’s trimmed in Pacers gold with navy blue as the primary color. You’ll find the usual Pacers logo at center court instead of the “City Edition”-style “Indy” from last season. 2024 Pacers court for the NBA Cup/Image via NBA Remember the bright blue floor? Here's what last year's tournament court looked like: The Pacers' In-Season Tournament Court from 2023 The Pacers play at Orlando on Wednesday and tip off their Cup schedule against the Heat on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.