How the NBA’s new in-season tournament that starts this season will work

LAS VEGAS — The NBA has a new trophy to play for, and some bonus cash for the teams that make the knockout round.

The unveiling Saturday of the long-awaited plans for the in-season tournament that’ll start in November likely brought some questions, since it’s a new concept and will make the schedule a bit unclear when the list of games for the 2023-24 slate gets released later this summer.

All 30 teams will take part. And every game will count in the stats and standings — except the championship game in Las Vegas on Dec. 9.

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

First, let’s start with the easy answer. Every game counts in the regular-season standings — except the championship game. (More on that later.)

Teams will play four group-stage games. The group winners go to the quarterfinals, as do two wild-card teams. Quarterfinals, semifinals and the final are all single elimination.

HOW WERE THE GROUPS PICKED?

Teams were assigned to a five-team group, with this past season’s order of regular season finish setting the pods from which they were selected. The teams that finished first, second and third in each conference were in one pod; the teams that finished in spots 4-6 were in another; spots 7-9 in another; spots 10-12 in another and spots 13-15 in the last.

The winner of each group goes to the quarterfinals, along with the best two second-place teams. Tiebreakers will likely come into play there. For tiebreakers within a group, head-to-head comes first. If there’s a tie for the best second-place team in all groups, the tiebreakers are:

— Point differential in the Group Stage;

— Total points scored in the Group Stage;

— Record…