The NBA is back with its seasonal tournament for the second consecutive season, and this time it was renamed the NBA Cup. The Lakers won the inaugural regular season tournament last season, beating the Pacers in Las Vegas. NOW, all 30 teams have a chance to lift the trophy as the tournament begins on Tuesday across the league.

And yes, the NBA is back with its crazy and colorful courts for a second year in a row. This is part of selling the NBA Cup, where the league wants to get more people wondering what’s special to generate more interest. This is why each NBA Cup has special courts… all 30 unique courts can be seen here. It’s important to note that all NBA Cup games will count toward each team’s regular season record. There is one exception: Finals will not count toward a team’s record or a player’s statistics for the season.

“I think it’s fun,” Jrue Holiday said. “I think we are pushing for something else in the middle of the season. I think being able to win a Cup and go to Vegas is something every team should push for. I feel like that’s something we’re trying to do. Obviously winning every game, but knowing it’s a tournament, another step we can take.

• BET: Check out our MA Sports Betting Guidewhere you can learn basic terminology, definitions, and how to read the odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.

The rules of the NBA Cup are simple and haven’t changed much from last year. The 30 teams were randomly selected from six different groups based on the win-loss record of the 2023-24 season. There are three groups in each conference: East A, East B, East C, West A, West B and West B.

Here is an overview of each group:

Is A: Knicks, Magic, 76ers, Nets, Hornets

Is B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors, Pistons

Is C: Celtics, Cavaliers, Bulls, Hawks, Wizards

West A: Timberwolves, Clippers, Kings, Rockets, Trail Blazers

West B: Thunder, Suns, Lakers, Jazz, Spurs

West C: Nuggets, Mavericks, Pelicans, Warriors, Grizzlies

NBA Cup games begin Tuesday with group play and continue through December 3. Each team will play four matches against the rest of their group in group play. The top team from each group will advance to the quarterfinals with a wild card selected from each conference. The wild card team will be selected based on tiebreakers, which include point differential, point total and more. It ended up mattering in the East C, where the Celtics, Magic and Nets were tied at the top of the standings at 3-1, but the C’s advanced thanks to the better point differential. (Note that overtime scores will not count towards point differential since each team will get a “0” in this regard, regardless of the final score.)

From there, the round of 16 are all knockout matches. The quarter-finals will be played on December 10 and 11 in domestic markets. The semi-finals (December 14) and the final (December 17) will be played in Las Vegas. Teams losing in group play or quarterfinals will have new games added to their schedule as typical regular season games.

The winners of the NBA Cup will receive the trophy and $500,000 for each player. Losing in the championship game represents a $200,000 bonus. There are also prizes for qualifying for the semi-finals ($100,000) and quarter-finals ($50,000). There will also be a tournament MVP and All-Tournament team. The Lakers held up a banner for winning the tournament last year.