NBA In-Season Tournament: How one controversial element has generated heated debate among players, coaches

The NBA has to be thrilled with the success of the inaugural In-Season Tournament, with the quarterfinals set for Monday evening. Despite some mixed reviews about some of the colorful custom courts, the games have been competitive and there certainly seemed to be some extra oomph from teams on Tuesday and Friday nights to start the 2023-24 season. There is one aspect, however, which has stirred up significant controversy in the league. The group play stage introduced a tiebreaker unfamiliar to most modern NBA fans: Point differential. Since it’s new, and a bit complicated, I’ll allow my colleague, Jack Maloney,…