Mavs-Nuggets preview: Here’s the lowdown on the in-season tournament

Like most new things, the NBA’s in-season tournament is going to take some getting used to.

Like new shoes or underwear.

Eventually, they start to feel right.

“A couple years ago, with the play-in tournament, there was a lot of skepticism,,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. “But it’s one of the best things the NBA has done in recent times.”

The in-season tourney opens Friday and the Mavericks will begin this four-game qualifying run spread over 26 days in Denver.

That would be against the defending NBA champion Nuggets. Not exactly a welcome-to-the-party gift. Especially with the 4-1 Nuggets coming off a 21-point loss at Minnesota on Wednesday.

So does the tournament add any extra buzz to the league?

“I think it does, just the excitement,” Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd said. “You got to find a way to get out of your pod, to be able to advance. Looking at our pod, it’s pretty talented. We have a lot of good teams in there. So we got our hands full.”

The NBA broke up the qualifying games in the tournament into three groups in each conference. The Mavericks have Denver, Houston, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Clippers in their grouping. They will play each of those teams once (two at home, two on the road).

The six teams that win each pod will move on to the quarterfinals, joined by the two teams with the next-best records. Point differential is one of the tiebreakers, which will be something new, as well.

All 67 games in the qualifying stage and the knockout stage will count toward the regular-season standings. And each team will continue to play 82 games in the regular season.

And there is some money at stake as players on teams that reach the knockout stage will receive part of a pool based on how far they advance.

Teams that don’t make the knockout stage will play two games on Dec. 6 and 8.

The quarterfinals are on Dec. 4-5. The semifinals (Dec. 7) and championship (Dec. 9) will be staged in Las Vegas.

“I think anytime there’s something new, it’s like, OK, how’s this going to be,” said Chicago coach Billy Donovan. “But (at) the head coaches’ meetings, there was a lot of emphasis on it to make it really, really good and important. And I think there’s incentive for the players, too. So it’s a way to almost treat it like a playoff setting, so to speak. I know it’s a little different for everybody. But I know there’s been a lot of emphasis of really making it work and being a really good event.”

From a player’s point of view, nothing really changes. All these games (with the exception of the championship game) count toward the standings.

“It’s new. It’s different,” said Mavericks forward Derrick Jones Jr. “You’re just going to have to adjust to it and play through it. Like everything brand new, you got to adjust to it. We’re going to go out there and take every game like it’s our last.”

The NBA has made a considerable commitment to turn the in-season tournament into a happening. All teams will have specific uniforms for the games and each arena will have a new court design for the tourney games.

After the Nuggets, the Mavericks will play the Clippers at American Airlines Center on Nov. 10, at New Orleans on Nov. 14 and back at AAC on Nov. 28 against Houston to complete their pod games.

“We open up with them (the defending champs),” Kidd said. “It’ll be exciting. The court, the uniforms, I think it’s something that’s probably needed in our game that we just haven’t had. It’s going to be great.”

Here’s what else you need to know about the Mavericks’ visit to Denver Friday:

• The Nuggets were never really in it against Minnesota on Wednesday, shooting just 39.6 percent and just 18 percent (6-of-33) from three-point range. MVP Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 10 rebounds and five turnovers.
• They typically start Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with Christian Braun and Reggie Jackson among their primary bench contributors.
• The Mavericks have had pretty decent luck in Denver recently, splitting two games there last season, highlighted by a 116-115 thriller in early December. They have won four of their past six trips to Denver.
• These teams are only scheduled to meet three times this season and only once in Dallas (March 17). However, that could change if neither side makes the knockout phase of the in-season tournament. The 22 teams who are eliminated in group play will play two games against random opponents with preference given to teams that are only scheduled to meet three times in the regular season.
• The Mavericks are 4-0 for the first time since 2004-05 and they are trying to get to 5-0 for the first time since 2002-03, when they ran off 14 consecutive victories to start the season.
• Luka Dončić got off to a remarkable start to the season with two 30-point triple-doubles, plus a 49-point outing, in the first three games. His numbers were a bit more human Wednesday against Chicago (18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists), but the Bulls ran relentless double-teams at him and Luka passed out well enough that Grant Williams got 25 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 24 and Derrick Jones Jr. had 17.
• Center Dereck Lively II has been a bit inconsistent, but he’s showing all the tools that the Mavericks drafted him for. He had 13 rebounds on Wednesday and displayed some excellent passing skills with six assists to go with seven points. He’s averaged 8.5 points and 7.3 rebounds so far, shooting 79 percent from the field in four games.

MAVERICKS (4-0) at DENVER NUGGETS (4-1)

When/where: 9 p.m. Friday at Ball Arena in Denver

TV: ESPN.

Radio: 97.1 FM The Freak; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish).

X: @ESefko