Last year’s top team in the Eastern Conference standings will play in its first 2025 NBA Cup game on Friday. The Cleveland Cavaliers will host the Toronto Rapto

The 2025 NBA Cup begins on Friday. Don't feel ashamed if you didn't know. It's Halloween, after all. You're probably busy, and the tournament has never started this early. The group stage was a November exclusive in 2023.

In its first two years, the NBA Cup has provided a platform for every team to reach its full potential. As Group Play begins tonight, the 4-0 Chicago Bulls and the Joker’s 3-1 Nuggets look poised to meet the moment.

Like pumpkin spice lattes or Christmas decorations, it feels like the start of the NBA Cup creeps up a bit earlier every year. But like with pumpkin spice and Christmas lights, that is a good thing, because the NBA Cup,

NBA Cup so soon? Why not hold the entire tournament in the two weeks leading into Christmas, with the championship game on the holiday?

Austin Reaves made a driving jump shot at the buzzer to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 116-115 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.

The 2023 group stage closed out with matchups against the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Embiid continued his trend of scoring of 30 points, grabbing 32 in each of the final two games. The Sixers split the games, finishing 2-2, getting placed third, behind the Cavs and the Pacers.