Only a little over one week has passed since the Philadephia 76ers opened the 2025-26 regular season in Boston. It has been a wild ride since then, with VJ Edgecombe making history, Tyrese Maxey taking
another leap, the Sixers executing thrilling fourth-quarter comebacks, and an overtime game to boot. Now the Sixers return home to face the same Celtics with something much more important at stake than turning around the vibes of a tortured fan base: the NBA Cup!
That’s right, folks. NBA Cup group stage play begins tonight, stealing Halloween’s thunder with its sheer magnitude of importance. The Sixers and Celtics are part of East Group B, along with the Nets, Pistons and Magic. The winner of each of the six groups will advance to the knockout round, along with one wild card from each conference, based upon the best record in group stage games. We are just six wins away from the Sixers hoisting the Cup in Las Vegas, a moment every Philadelphia fan has dreamed about since they were a child. Lakers and Bucks fans still gather around and wax poetic about past Cup title runs. (In all seriousness, the Cup action has been very fun to watch once it hits the knockout stage.)
For the Sixers, it will be the same group available tonight as the win earlier this week in Washington, D.C., with three players unavailable:
Everyone but Barlow participated in practice on Thursday, so we could soon be looking at the rarest of events for the Sixers: a clean injury report.
Meanhile, Boston is now 2-3 on the season, defeating New Orleans and Cleveland this week after dropping their first three contests. One lineup shift has been Josh Minott moving into the starting lineup, which coincided with the two Celtics victories. Minott recorded 15 points and nine rebounds against the Pelicans, and 11 points and 14 rebounds against the Cavaliers. The Celtics’ injury report for tonight only has the one big name:
Boston let an 11-point fourth quarter lead slip away in the season opener. Maxey’s 40 points in that win were a sign of things to come, with his currently leading the NBA in scoring at 37.5 points per game. VJ Edgecombe scored 34 points, the most in any NBA rookie debut since Wilt Chamberlain; he has since overtaken Cooper Flagg as the Rookie of the Year favorite. Although Dominick Barlow was available for that previous meeting and will be missing the action tonight, the Sixers will have Trendon Watford, who played 18 minutes in his Sixers debut against the Wizards. As of this writing, the Sixers are 3-point favorites over the Celtics, per FanDuel Sportsbook.
As a reminder, the Sixers’ court tonight will be all dressed up for Halloween (and the Cup):
Happy Halloween, everyone! Hopefully the Sixers have more treats than tricks in store for us tonight.
Game Details
When: Friday, October 31, 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: Prime Video
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
