NBA Cup 2026 Standings, Bracket Predictions After October 30 Group Play

The 2026 NBA Cup action continued Friday night, with several of the leagues top teams and biggest stars showing out.

Which squads picked up an invaluable first win in Cup competition and which find themselves in the hole early?

No Anthony Edwards, no problem as the Timberwolves blew out the Clippers Friday night by 26 to continue their thrilling start to the 2026-27 season.

Jaden McDaniels scored 23, Lamelo Ball added 24, and Rudy Gobert grabbed 13 rebounds in the dominant effort.

Like the 76ers in the East, the T-Wolves have gelled early on and have set out to prove they are a legitimate threat in a loaded Western Conference.

The Mavericks improved to 4-2 on the season Friday night, dealing the Rockets their first loss of the season on the strength of Kyrie Irving's 35 points and Cooper Flagg's 33.

Even the Rockets impressed enough in a loss, with Kevin Durant scoring 28, to be considered a threat to emerge from the West bracket.

With the Lakers also in the mix, the path to the NBA Cup is far more difficult to predict. The Timberwolves look like a team that is on a mission, yet having fun along the way. They feel like just the team up emerge victoriously and, perhaps, win the whole thing.

Grading Every Team After Wild First Week 🔠

For the second time in this young NBA season, the 76ers bested the Knicks, beating them by five Friday night. Thus far, the team looks the part of the dream team fans in the City of Brotherly Love expected them to be when LeBron James took a pay cut to join Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Jaylen Brown.

Maxey starred Friday, scoring 27 points, four rebounds, anf four assists, while James added 20, nine, and eight against the defending NBA champs.

At 5-1, they look like a team capable of not only winning the East bracket in this year's NBA Cup, but also compete for an NBA title.

The Celtics are out to regain championship form and dominated Chicago in their NBA Cup opener.

Jayson Tatum scored 26 points and Paul George added 18, but it was Payton Pritchard who impressed most, adding 30 points off the bench.

To this point in the season, Boston appears to be the biggest threat to Philly's All-Star squad, both in Cup competition and their pursuit of an NBA title.

Still, the 76ers have gelled early and look poised to send a message to the rest of the league.