The group stage of the 2025 NBA Cup opened on Friday with some fantastic individual performances.

Luka Doncic’s 44-point output for the Los Angeles Lakers stole the spotlight, but Jaylen Brown, Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker and Josh Giddey all eclipsed the 30-point mark in victories.

The biggest surprise of the night was the Portland Trailblazers’ home win over the Denver Nuggets. Portland is currently on top of a tough West Group C.

A handful of surprises came out of the Eastern Conference groups, including the Toronto Raptors’ upset over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Portland produced the biggest surrprise in the West with its 109-107 win over Denver.

The Blazers received 23 points from Deni Avdija and had six players reach double figures to take down one of the giants of the West.

Denver now sits in a precarious spot because it still has to face the Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs in group play.

The presence of those other three teams doesn’t guarantee Portland will run away with West Group C either. In fact, the result probably helps thee Rockets, Warriors and Spurs because now one Denver loss can knock it out of contention for first place.

West Group B will likely come down to the two Los Angeles teams. The Lakers and Clippers both won by small margins on Friday night. They meet on November 25 in what will likely be the group decider.

The Phoenix Suns are temporarily on top of West Group A, but the expectation is the Oklahoma City Thunder runs away with first place.

Over in the East, the Cavaliers and New York Knicks each suffered defeats on their first nights of group play.

Toronto shook up East Group A with its win over the Cavs. The Atlanta Hawks might end up as the biggest beneficiary of that result. They beat a depleted Indiana Pacers team to reach the top of the group.

New York’s loss to Chicago opened up East Group C for the Milwaukee Bucks to take over when they begin group play.

The Boston Celtics knocked off the Philadelphia 76ers in East Group B, which should be the most competitive of the three East groups. The Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets also reside in that group.

Philadelphia is not out of contention for first yet, but it now must beat Detroit and Orlando to feel safer about its chances to advance.

East Group Winners: Atlanta, Boston, Milwaukee

West Group Winners: OKC, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston