The NBA G League has officially revealed its schedule for the 2022/23 season, per a press release. Here are a few highlights from the G League’s announcement:
Return of the Showcase Cup
For a second consecutive year, the NBAGL season will begin with an event called the Showcase Cup. The league’s 30 teams will be split into four regional “pods” (two with eight teams apiece and two with seven teams each) and will play a 16-game schedule.
Eight teams will advance from there to a single-elimination tournament at the G League’s Winter Showcase from December 19-22. The four pod winners will be part of that tournament, as will the four teams with the next-best records, regardless of which pod they’re in.
Each team will play a total of 18 games during the Showcase Cup and Winter Showcase, with the exception of the two finalists — they’ll play a 19th contest to determine the Showcase champion.
A 30-team regular season
Last season, all 30 NBA G League teams competed in the Showcase Cup, but the Mexico City Capitanes and the G League Ignite did not take part in the regular season beginning in January.
This year, all 30 NBAGL teams will compete in a 32-game regular season, tipping off on December 27. The Capitanes will host their games at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico, while the Ignite move into their new home, the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada.
The top six teams in each conference will advance to the NBA G League postseason, so 12 of 30 teams will be playoff clubs.
“Elam Ending” experiments
The G League will experiment with a couple variations of the “Elam Ending” this season, like the NBA has with the All-Star Game in recent years. The new rules are as follows:
- Any game that goes into overtime will be determined by a seven-point target score. For instance, if two teams are tied at 100-100 at the end of regulation, the first team to 107 points would be the winner.
- During the Winter Showcase in December, winners will be determined by a 25-point target score in the fourth quarter. For example, if one team is ahead by a score of 90-80 at the end of three quarters, the target score would be 115 (the leading team’s score, plus 25). The first team to 115 points would win the game.
The list of G League teams and affiliations essentially looks the same as it did last season. The one minor change is that the Clippers’ affiliate is now known simply as the Ontario Clippers, rather than the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario.