by Wheat Hotchkiss
The matchups are set for the In-Season Tournament Quarterfinals. Gainbridge Fieldhouse will host the first ever In-Season Tournament Knockout Round game on Monday, Dec. 4, when the Pacers host the Boston Celtics at 7:30 PM ET.
The Blue & Gold won East Group A with a perfect 4-0 record. They will meet a Celtics team that captured East Group C with a 3-1 record. Boston had an identical record in their group to both Orlando and Brooklyn, but won the tiebreaker over those teams because they had the best point differential during Group Play, thanks in large part to Tuesday’s 27-point victory over Chicago.
All eyes will be on Indiana on Monday night. The Quarterfinal game against the Celtics will be televised nationally on TNT and the winner will advance to the Semifinals, which will be held in Las Vegas on Thursday, Dec. 7.
The Pacers and Celtics have met one time this season, with Boston prevailing 155-104 in a game that Indiana All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton missed due to injury. The two teams were already scheduled to play four times this season, with games in Indiana on Jan. 6 and 8 and another matchup in Boston on Jan. 30. Monday’s Quarterfinal also counts as a regular season game, so the two teams will now play five times, though the stakes are larger for Monday’s matchup.
The winner of Monday’s game will advance to face the winner of the other East Quarterfinal between the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks in Vegas. Milwaukee hosts New York on Tuesday night. The two East Quarterfinal losers will play a regular season game against each other on Friday, Dec. 8.
On the other side of the bracket in the Western Conference, the Kings will host the Pelicans on Monday and the Lakers will host the Suns on Tuesday. The Championship game will take place in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 9, with the winning team being awarded the inaugural NBA Cup.
Players and coaches from each team that reached the Knockout Rounds will receive shares of a prize pool that will go up in value depending on how far their team advances, with players on the team that wins the Championship receiving $500,000 each. There will also be an In-Season Tournament MVP and an All-Tournament team that will be named at the end of the event.
Originally posted on pacers.com