Fresh paint. Bright lights. Bigger stakes.
The Emirates NBA Cup is here – making for a monster Halloween Night.
5 stories in today’s edition 🏀
Oct. 31, 2025
Emirates NBA Cup 101: Everything you need to know before the chase begins tonight
Cup Night On Prime: Group Play starts with classic rivals and a buzzer-beater battle
More Cup On League Pass: Jokić eyes history, Bulls aim to stay perfect and four more duels
Scary Good: Wemby & Shai haunt opponents as Spurs & Thunder remain unbeaten
Milwaukee Magic: Ryan Rollins catches fire again, while Paolo & Franz fuel Orlando
But first … ⏰
The quest for the Cup starts on Prime…
A Prime doubleheader tips off the first Cup Night as the 76ers welcome the rival Celtics (7 ET | Tap to Watch), before the Grizzlies host the Lakers (9:30 ET | Tap to Watch).
With six more games on League Pass, the Emirates NBA Cup gets into full swing with all six groups in play.
1. Everything to know about the Emirates NBA Cup
Thirty teams enter. Eight advance. One takes home the hardware.
The Emirates NBA Cup 2025 begins tonight, with 16 teams in action on the first of seven Cup Nights over the next 28 days.
- The Basics: The third annual in-season competition gives all 30 teams another championship to chase while driving energy and intensity early in the regular season
- The Format: The 30 teams are split into six groups of five, with three groups per conference. Each team faces the other four in its group once during Group Play
- The Road To Eight: The winners of each group – plus the top second-place team in each conference (the Wild Card) – advance to the eight-team Knockout Round
- Vegas Awaits: It’s a single-elimination bracket from there, with four quarterfinal winners heading to Las Vegas for the Semifinals and Championship in mid-December. The winner claims the NBA Cup
- Possible For Blake Griffin To Explain Instead? The former six-time All-Star and current Prime analyst has all the details here
What makes the Emirates NBA Cup special?
For one, the stakes go up. As the first two tournaments proved, players, teams and fans have embraced the in-season chase with Playoff-like energy – producing unforgettable moments.
- One Example? On the first Cup Night of 2024, Steph Curry did this
- To Claim Last Year’s Cup? Giannis came up with another game-saving block in the Semifinals – eerily similar to the 2021 NBA Finals – before taking over the Championship Game
The look is different, too. Each game is played on a uniquely designed court – one for every team – that puts the trophy front and center, with bold team colors and custom logos inspired by each franchise’s identity.
The purpose? A reminder that these games hit different.
- “The NBA Cup is so electric because it’s a Playoff environment early,” said Donovan Mitchell at Media Day. “It gives you that Playoff-readiness … right from the jump.”
- “Cup Games are just a little bit more,” said Alperen Sengun, a First-Team All-NBA Cup 2024 selection. “It feels like a Playoff game.”
The stage is set, the stars are ready and the chase begins tonight.
Only one question remains – who will capture the Cup?
2. Cup Night on Prime: Classic rivals & clutch kings
Every team wants it. Only one will claim it.
Tonight on Prime (7 ET), the chase begins as the Celtics visit the 76ers in the 472nd edition of their ever-evolving rivalry. Both have seen their share of success this season, but neither wants to slow their roll at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
- Triumphant Tandem: Tyrese Maxey (37.5) and VJ Edgecombe (22.3) are combining for 59.8 ppg — the highest such mark in the league
- Comeback City: Behind their prolific production, Philadelphia remains undefeated, with three of its four victories requiring double-digit 4th-quarter rallies
- Rematch: Boston has taken six of the last eight meetings, but Philadelphia is 1-0 against the Celtics this season, rallying from 13 points down in the season opener
- Instant Chemistry: Together, Maxey and Edgecombe combined for 74 points that night for the second-most ever in NBA history by a duo in a season opener
- Ship Steered: Jaylen Brown has led the Celtics in scoring four of five times – including 30 on an efficient 12-for-20 clip in Wednesday’s statement victory over the Cavaliers
Not one, but two game-winning shots swished the net Wednesday night.
They came from the hands of Austin Reaves and Ja Morant, who will go toe-to-toe tonight (9:30 ET, Prime) when the Lakers visit the Grizzlies in West Group B.
- Meet The Moment: Morant’s game-winning floater was the 6th of his career with 10 or less seconds remaining — third-most in the Association since he entered the league in 2019
- On A Heater: Reaves only added to his line of standout showings, preceded by 41- and 51-point games, and also submitted a season-high 16 assists in the effort
- Far From Home: Once going undrafted in 2021, he’s now taken the reins of the Lake Show at 27 years old in the absence of superstars LeBron James and Luka Dončić
- “That guy is going to show up in the big moments,” said coach JJ Redick after Wednesday’s winner. “Feel very comfortable with him making decisions in late-game.”
3. Surging squads on League Pass
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.
Nuggets at Blazers (10 ET | West C): Nikola Jokić looks to continue his streak of triple-double history, as Denver rolls in eyeing a fourth-straight win.
- 5-for-5: Jokić can become the first player ever to record a triple-double in each of the first five games of a season, surpassing Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson (4)
- Murray Flurry: The West’s best offense (128.3 ppg) has been paced by Jamal Murray, with 27 ppg
- Heist Game: The Blazers’ defense has helped produce a 3-1 record in their last four games, leading the league with 12.2 steals per game
Knicks at Bulls (8 ET | East C): A classic rivalry renews as Chicago tries to start 5-0 for the first time since 1996-97.
- Fresh Faces: Josh Giddey (19.5 ppg, 8.5 reb, 7.8 ast) and Matas Buzelis (16.8 ppg, 51 FG%) have their fingerprints all over Chicago’s hot start
- Balanced Bulls: Chicago is succeeding with their top-5 defense (106.2 DefRtg), the second-most assists (30.5) and six players scoring 12+ ppg
- Cup Comforts: New York has only lost one game in NBA Cup Group Play history. Jalen Brunson (31.8 ppg) and the Knicks look for their first win away from MSG this year
Hawks at Pacers (7 ET | East A): Few teams have seized the Cup’s growth opportunity like the Pacers and Hawks. The 2023 Cup runners-up, Indiana, found its way to the 2025 NBA Finals, while 2024 semifinalist Atlanta proved its potential enough to go all-in this offseason.
As they open East Group A action tonight, both teams aim to ignite their seasons.
League Pass has the rest of Cup Night 1 covered, with six more squads taking the floor:
- Raptors at Cavaliers (7:30 ET | East A)
- Jazz at Suns (10 ET | West A)
- Pelicans at Clippers (10:30 ET | West B)
4. Wemby & Spurs make history; SGA & OKC stay perfect
On Halloween eve, Victor Wembanyama looked right at home – a 7-foot-4 menace haunting the paint and everyone who dared enter.
Spurs 107, Heat 101: In the latest edition of “What can’t Wemby do?”, the Alien left us Earthlings without answers, dropping a ridiculous 27 points, 18 boards, 6 dimes and 5 blocks to lead the Spurs to their first 5-0 start. | Recap
- The Start: With the performance, Wemby becomes the first player in 50 years to rack up 150+ pts, 70+ reb and 20+ blk in the first five games of a season
- The Company: The only other player to reach those totals in any five-game stretch over the last 20 years? Tim Duncan
- The Streak: Thursday marked his 90th straight game with at least one block – the fourth longest streak since 1973-74
The Revival: The last time Wemby didn’t record a block in a game? His rookie season on Jan. 10, 2024 – a day the Spurs entered with a 5-30 record.
Now, they’re 5-0 for the first time.
- “It feels incredible,” said Wemby of the start (he spoke on the Spurs’ PA system). “This is years of work for all of us, and now, finally trying to get the maturity to get actual wins – we’re with our fans, so it feels great.”
- Keldon Johnson’s Thoughts? “GO SPURS GO!”
Also terrorizing opponents: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, with OKC still perfect.
Thunder 127, Wizards 108: SGA extended his historic 20-point game streak before halftime, finishing with a team-high 31 points without playing the 4th quarter, as OKC rolled to 6-0. | Recap
- Level 30: Shai went over 30 points for the fifth time already this season, the most in the NBA
- 20 ‘25: It’s been a calendar year since SGA scored less than 20 pts. One more would tie Oscar Robertson (79) for the third-longest streak all-time
- Run It Back: OKC is a win away from matching their franchise-best 7-0 start from last year
- Wiz Standout: CJ McCollum led Washington with 19 pts on five 3s
5. Rollins erupts; Banchero & Wagner fuel Magic
With Giannis Antetokounmpo out, the Bucks needed someone to step up.
Instead, Ryan Rollins stole the show – again.
Bucks 120, Warriors 110: Two nights after scoring a career-high 25 points against New York, Rollins topped it with 32 against Golden State, going 5-of-7 from deep, capped by a dagger 3 in the final minute to power the Bucks past Steph Curry (27 pts) and the Warriors. | Recap
- Closing Time: In a game that featured 16 lead changes, it was Rollins who delivered the decisive blow, dropping 13 points and 2 dimes in the 4th to spark a 14-6 closing run
- Career Night: The 4th-year guard, who entered Thursday averaging 5.6 ppg in his career, finished 13-of-21 from the field while adding 8 assists and a win against his former team
- “It feels great,” said Rollins on the breakout performance. “But feels even better that we got the dub.”
- Giannis In Costume: While Antetokounmpo was sidelined (knee soreness), he did suit up in preparation to steal the moon
Magic 123, Hornets 107: Orlando put offense and defense together, shooting a season-high 42.1% from 3 while limiting Charlotte to a season-low 107 points. | Recap
- Dub Duo: Paolo Banchero (20 pts, 9 reb, 9 ast) and Franz Wagner (21 pts) lead all NBA duos this year with four games where they each score 20+ points
- Historic Helper: LaMelo Ball’s 13 assists give him 51 through the first five games, surpassing Muggsy Bogues (50 in 1993-94) for the franchise record
