(New York) The Toronto Raptors will open the NBA intraseason tournament on Nov. 17 at home against the Boston Celtics.
The league unveiled the full schedule for this new initiative on Tuesday.
The Raptors will also play in Orlando on Nov. 21 and host the Bulls on Nov. 24; then, the roster including Montreal’s Chris Boucher will conclude the preliminary phase on November 28, in Brooklyn.
This quartet is part of group C of the East.
The first round totals 60 games starting November 3, with a Cavaliers game in Indiana, where Montrealer Bennedict Mathurin plays.
There will be seven games on this first night, including Dallas in Denver and Golden State in OKC.
The Mavericks have Oliver-Maxence Prosper of Rosemere in their ranks, while the Thunder include Luguentz Dort of Montreal.
Each club will play four matches in the preliminary phase. The winners of the six groups and two more teams will advance to the playoffs.
At stake is approximately $18 million, including $500,000 for each club player who will win the tournament.
In the West, Group A includes Memphis, Phoenix, Utah, Portland and the Lakers.
Group B includes Denver, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and the Clippers.
Group C hosts Sacramento, Golden State, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, Indiana and Detroit are in Pool A East, while Milwaukee, New York, Miami, Washington and Charlotte are in Pool B.
The quarter-finals will take place on December 4 and 5.
The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will host the semi-finals and final on December 7-9.
Each game will count in the regular season standings, with the exception of the final game.
The NBA will release its full 2023-24 schedule Thursday at 3 p.m.
We will then list 80 matches for each club. The other two will be in the intraseason tournament or as regular season matchups on December 6 and 8.