The NBA announced that every team in the league will have a new, unique court for In-Season tournament games.
Each team will host at least two games as a part of the In-Season Tournament, so there will be fun designs on the hardwood every Tuesday and Friday night during the month of November. It's the NBA's way of making it even more clear when a regular season game has the added importance of also being a tournament game.
"Used for Group Play and the Quarterfinals, the courts showcase a bold and distinctive design, making it clear to fans when a game carries Tournament implications," the NBA tweeted via their Public Relations account on Monday.
The Indiana Pacers new court is cerulean and yellow, and it (like every new court design) features the In-Season Tournament trophy in the middle of the court. A rendering of the court can be seen below.
"It's creative for sure," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of the design and the idea behind the unique courts. "I think the thought with the In-Season Tournament is to make it different. Make it very much a thing that you really know when one of those games is happening."
The Pacers host the Cleveland Cavaliers in an In-Season Tournament game on November 3. Their other guaranteed home game as a part of the new competition is on Friday, November 24 against the Detroit Pistons. If Indiana does well in the Group Stage games, they could host a third game on the creative hardwood for the Quarterfinals. It would be sometime between December 3 and December 10.
"I think it's pretty cool. I saw the renderings of the courts a month and a half ago or something when I was at the head coaches' meeting in Chicago," Carlisle said. He has seen the league evolve quite a bit since entering the league as a player in 1984. "The courts are making a statement that this is something special that's happening within the normal schedule."
The Pacers group contains the Cavaliers, Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, and Atlanta Hawks. This is the first-ever NBA season featuring the In-Season tournament, which makes regular season games more important and adds one extra game via the title battle. There is a cash prize for the winning teams.
"It's different to say the least. I like the step in the different direction," Myles Turner, Indiana's starting center, said of the court. "It's something different than we've done in the past, it's something different than our fans are accustomed to. I'm not mad at it."
For more on the In-Season Tournament and what it means for the Indiana Pacers, click here.
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