The NBA introduced the In-Season Tournament this season and with that has come something new to play for: point differential.
In the tournament format, there are three outright winners of three groups in each conference and a sole wild card spot that is likely to be decided by point differential. The first tiebreaker is record and the second is this point differential. The outright winners of groups are also decided by point differential if three teams in the group finish with a 3-1 record. These three group winners and the wild card team next play in a single-elimination knockout stage which ultimately concludes with the championship.