The Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder look like they are going to have the most competitive race to win one of the NBA Cup groups.

Minnesota and OKC won their group-stage openers by a combined 71 points on Friday night.

Minnesota is ahead in West Group A on point differential, but it faces a tough task to advance as group winner against the reigning NBA champion and NBA Cup runner-up.

The reigning NBA Cup champion, the Milwaukee Bucks, started strong as well on Friday with a 16-point win over the Chicago Bulls.

Updated NBA Cup Standings

Toronto (2-0; +23 point differential)Cleveland (1-1; +23)Atlanta (1-1; +8)Indiana (0-1; -20)Washington (0-1; -34)Detroit (1-0; +18)Orlando (1-0; +13)Boston (1-1; -12)Philadelphia (0-1; -1)Brooklyn (0-1; -18)Miami (1-0; +18)Milwaukee (1-0; +16)Chicago (1-1; -6)New York (0-1; -10)Charlotte (0-1; -18)Minnesota (1-0; +40)Oklahoma City (1-0; +31)Phoenix (1-0; +22)Sacramento (0-1; -31)Utah (0-1; -40)Los Angeles Lakers (1-0; +5)Los Angeles Clippers (1-0; +2)Memphis (1-1; +9)New Orleans (0-1; -2)Dallas (0-1; -14)San Antonio (1-0; +11)Portland (1-0; +2)Denver (1-1; +23)Houston (0-1; -11)Golden State (0-1; -25)

The November 26 clash between Minnesota and Oklahoma City has the potential to be the best game of the group stage.

Minnesota blew out the Utah Jazz by 40 points on Friday night behind 37 points from Anthony Edwards, while OKC took down the Sacramento Kings by 31 points.

Minnesota and OKC already created a gap between themselves and the rest of West Group A. The Phoenix Suns are 1-0 with a +22 point differential, but they are expected to lose to both the Wolves and Thunder in group play.

The November 26 game in Oklahoma City will likely determine the West Group A winner and have an affect on the second-place standings. The best second-place team in each conference advances to the quarterfinals alongside the three group winners.

At the moment, OKC leads the second-place standings and has a +29 edge in point differential over the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers.

The San Antonio Spurs should now be the West Group C favorite after beating the Houston Rockets on Friday. The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to win West Group B.

Over in the East, the Bucks could face competition from the Miami Heat to win East Group C.

Milwaukee is 13-1 in NBA Cup/In-Season tournament games. With the Bulls already at 1-1 and the New York Knicks at 0-1, the Bucks’ biggest threat right now is the Heat.

The Bucks face the Heat and Knicks in consecutive games on November 26 and 28 in group play.

The Toronto Raptors are the surprise leader of East Group A at 2-0 after wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks. They just have to beat the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards now to advance.

East Group B is currently led by the Detroit Pistons, but the Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers will all try to have a say in winning that group.

If anything, the race for the best second-place spot will be heated in the East because of the early results.

East Group Winners: Toronto, Detroit, Milwaukee

West Group Winners: Oklahoma City, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio

Best Second-Place Teams: Orlando, Minnesota