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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz's best hope of winning a title this season starts on Tuesday — even if the players don't quite know what it's called.
"I think we'll get the (same intensity as last season) as far as all the in-season tournament games, or what's it called now?" Keyonte George asked.
That would be the Emirate's NBA Cup.
The league changed the name of the court-changing, early-season competition for its second season, so what else does Year 2 of the tournament have in store?
Well, if you liked the first year, you'll probably like the second. If you were apathetic about it last season, that's probably where you'll land this time, too.
A quick refresher: The NBA Cup will be played in two stages: group play featuring all 30 NBA teams followed by an eight-team knockout round. Each conference features three five-team groups drawn based on last season's final standings.
Beginning Tuesday and continuing through Dec. 3, teams will play each group member once. The winners of each group, along with one wild card team in each conference, will then advance to the knockout rounds.
The knockout stage will consist of single-elimination games, with the semifinals and championship game played in Las Vegas on Dec. 14 and Dec. 17, respectively.
To help differentiate them from normal, regular-season games, NBA Cup contests will be played on alternate courts. Utah's is a fully grey court featuring a mountain skyline and a large J-note.
The Jazz's path
Utah is in West Group B, along with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs and defending NBA Cup champions Los Angeles Lakers.
The Jazz open NBA Cup play with Phoenix Tuesday night at the Delta Center. Utah's other NBA Cups games are: at Lakers, Nov. 19; vs. Spurs, No. 26; and at Thunder, Dec. 3.
ESPN has given the Jazz a 4.8% chance of winning the group, and a 6.4% chance of making it through at least as a wild card.
So, not great.
However, that's still better than the Jazz's current playoff odds, so that does bring a little more motivation to the gimmicky tournament.
"It's almost like a fresh start when you play these (NBA Cup) games, or whatever it's called," George said. "But, yes, we've gotta go into this game not like we're 0-0 but, I mean, let's be honest, we're playing for money. And I know we make all the money in the world, but who doesn't like extra money?"
The prize
Speaking of money, that is mostly the motivation here (a December trip to Vegas might not hurt, either.) The players on the winning team will each receive $500,000 — likely more than players would get for winning the actual NBA title.
For George and the Jazz, the tournament also provides a slight taste — and we do mean slight — of what playoff games feel like for a young team.
"I think it brings a different type of intensity, especially in early November," George said. "(Jazz coach Will Hardy) talks about how hard it is to win the NBA game, how hard it is to compete for 48 minutes, so that's why we try to build habits now. I think it's going to be a good experience."
