NBA Cup 2025: Bulls improve to 50, Celtics hold off furious Sixers rally on first night of inseason tourney Andy Backstrom November 1, 2025 at 2:58 AM 0 The third NBA Cup is underway. The first two iterations of the inseason tournament offered mixed results from a ratings perspective, but the event's piped in some intrigue before the AllStar break.
- - NBA Cup 2025: Bulls improve to 5-0, Celtics hold off furious Sixers rally on first night of in-season tourney
Andy Backstrom November 1, 2025 at 2:58 AM
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The third NBA Cup is underway. The first two iterations of the in-season tournament offered mixed results from a ratings perspective, but the event's piped in some intrigue before the All-Star break.
The entertainment continues this year on Halloween during the NBA's opening month, which is brimming with storylines, including Victor Wembanyama's triumphant San Antonio Spurs return, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves taking turns in the Los Angeles Lakers' spotlight with LeBron James sidelined, and the Oklahoma City Thunder starting their title defense with back-to-back, double-overtime victories.
The Emirates NBA Cup is played every Friday until Nov. 28. The week of Thanksgiving will feature additional group-play games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The quarterfinals will be played from Dec. 9-10. Then the semifinals and championship will be held on Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, respectively.
For more information about the Cup and how it works, head on over here. You can check out all 30 court designs for Cup play here.
NBA Cup 2025: Schedule, format and new courts for this year's in-season tournament
Yahoo Sports is rounding up the action from the first night of Cup competition below:
Celtics 109, Sixers 108
The Boston Celtics led by as many as 24 points in the first half, which the Philadelphia 76ers ultimately ended on a 17-4 run. Momentum started to swing when rookie guard VJ Edgecombe followed up a 3 with a transition and-1. Edgecombe finished with 17 points. His backcourt partner, Tyrese Maxey, clocked out with 26. Joel Embiid posted 20 points and 6 rebounds in 25 minutes. And the Sixers nearly pulled off their fourth fourth-quarter comeback of the season. They had two chances at game-winning buckets in the final five seconds. Neither came to fruition, and Boston avenged its one-point, season-opening defeat to its division rival with a nail-biting, one-point win. The Celtics, who were led by Jaylen Brown's 32 points Friday, have now won three in a row after starting the season 0-3.
Hawks 128, Pacers 108
No Trae Young, no problem for the Atlanta Hawks — at least, that was the case Friday. In their first game since Young's knee injury, the Hawks saw all five of their starters score in double figures. Jalen Johnson punctuated his 22-point performance with a one-handed jam in the final stages of Atlanta's road victory. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had his best game in a Hawks uniform so far, pitching in 21 points of his own. Atlanta created serious separation in the third quarter, during which it outscored the Indiana Pacers 34-17. A season removed from making a run to the NBA Finals, Indiana is suddenly staring at an 0-5 record. The absence of Tyrese Haliburton is felt, especially on a night like Friday when even fellow multi-time All-Star Pascal Siakam is struggling from the field. He shot just 5-of-15 and finished with 18 points in the loss.
Raptors 112, Cavaliers 101
It was one of those nights for Jamison Battle. Now in his second year out of Ohio State, the smooth-shooting lefty delivered six triples off the bench to the tune of 20 points. He was one of three Toronto Raptors players who hit that mark, joining Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett. Two days after connecting on only 40.2% of their attempts from the floor against the Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers logged just a 40% field goal percentage versus the Raptors. This time, Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen weren't in the lineup. Toronto erased a 10-point deficit in the third quarter and then finished strong in the fourth. Cleveland is 3-3. It didn't have three losses last season until Nov. 29.
Bulls 135, Knicks 125
The Chicago Bulls are still undefeated. They nearly got a triple-double from Josh Giddey, who finished with a career-high 32 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists in a 10-point victory over the New York Knicks. A 35-year-old Nikola Vučević turned in 26 points and seven rebounds. Ayo Dosunmu made eight of his 10 shots off the bench, collecting 22 points. The Bulls were 10-of-21 from 3 in the first half and 17-of-37 from deep on the night. New York enjoyed success from long range, too, and the Knicks got a combined 100 points from Jalen Brunson (29), OG Anunoby (26), Mikal Bridges (23) and Karl-Anthony Towns (22). But they gave up 25 off their 12 turnovers and were outscored in the paint 54-38. Chicago is 5-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
Josh Giddey ↗️ Matas Buzelis!Bulls are seeking their first 5–0 start since 1996–97 tonight 👀🆚 NYK-CLE • East Group C🏆 @emirates NBA Cup📺 NBA League Pass: https://t.co/7O3mYfPiXt pic.twitter.com/c8LtA8KZhP
— NBA (@NBA) November 1, 2025
This story is being as NBA Cup play continues.
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: November 01, 2025 at 05:27AM on Source: CR MAG
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