The Knicks knock off the Spurs 124-113 to become the third NBA Cup champions.<\/p>\n
The last time the Knicks and the Spurs played a game with so much significance \u2013 as in hardware, extra cash and bragging rights \u2013 everyone involved was a lot younger. Or not around at all: 19 of the players on the two rosters that clashed in Las Vegas Tuesday for the Emirates NBA Cup Championship<\/a> hadn\u2019t been born yet when New York and San Antonio met in the 1999 NBA Finals.<\/p>\n The Knicks beat the Spurs at T-Mobile Arena 124-113<\/a> in the single-game elimination that decided the third edition of the league\u2019s NBA Cup. Joining the Lakers (2023) and the Bucks (2024) in capturing the Cup, New York did more than snag a marvelous payday for its players ($530,933 per man, more than double the $212,373 paid to each member of the runner-up Spurs). \u00a0<\/p>\n The Knicks turned in a performance of collective excellence, getting indispensable contributions from the eight players who logged all two of the\u00a0240 minutes. They came away with their pockets a little\u00a0more full\u00a0and their confidence brimming, too, as the NBA schedule bears down on Christmas and gets serious when the calendar flips to 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are four takeaways from an entertaining game that packed a bit more heft than what\u00a0you\u2019d\u00a0normally expect from a night in mid-December:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. The Knicks had depth and Mike Brown used it<\/p>\n The first words out of guard Jalen Brunson\u2019s mouth when he was announced as the NBA Cup MVP on-court, postgame ceremony paid tribute to his team\u2019s role players, specifically OG Anunoby, Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson and Mitchell Robinson. \u201cWithout them, we don\u2019t win this,\u201d said Brunson, who joined LeBron James\u00a0 (2023) and Giannis Antetkounmpo (2024) as Cup MVP. \u00a0<\/p>\n Some of their contributions were evident in the box score. Anunoby, best known for his defense, led New York with 28 points, hit half of his 10 3-point shots and carried the Knicks in the first half with 20 points.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Robinson, one of the league\u2019s most tenacious offensive rebounders, grabbed 10 of those, contributing to New York\u2019s 32 second-chance points and claiming more ball off the offensive glass than San Antonio\u2019s Victor\u00a0Wembanyama\u00a0managed all night (six).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Kolek and Clarkson, meanwhile,\u00a0got 24 of their\u00a0combined 29 points\u00a0in the second half. Not only did they spark the Knicks\u2019 fourth-quarter dominance Tuesday \u2013 35-19 \u2013 but they\u00a0flipped\u00a0a script that had the Spurs winning the battle of reserves. Through three quarters, San Antonio\u2019s backups had a 37-15 edge, but in the fourth the Knicks bench beat them 18-8.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And the way Brown stuck with the group that was rolling generated some excitement for the spring. He was in a tough spot, hired to replace Tom Thibodeau and charged with, what, winning two more East finals games to get New York to the championship round in June?\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0a tough way to go through\u00a0a long\u00a0season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Now Brown has helped his team win a trophy, give extra credibility to its 18-7\u00a0record\u00a0and write a fresh narrative that\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0dominated by minutes police fretting about overuse and\u00a0possible breakdowns\u00a0of five iron Knicks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Said Brunson: \u201cThat\u2019s going to be our motto going forward: We\u2019re going to find a way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Don\u2019t get used to Wemby off the bench<\/p>\n The Spurs\u2019 unicorn center entered both games in Las Vegas as a reserve, a nod to his 12-game layoff with a calf injury and how well the team (9-3) and backup Luke Kornet played in his absence.\u00a0<\/p>\n But these were the first and second games\u00a0Wembanyama\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0start in his three NBA seasons. He scored 18 points in 25\u00a0minutes\u00a0but San Antonio was minus-18 when he was on the floor. He searched for his shot, going 7-for-17. And afterward, he shared that his grandmother had died earlier Tuesday, tearing up on the podium afterward.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n All of which is a way of saying, there probably are NBA Cups in the spectacular big man\u2019s future, along with some of the jewelry teams earn in June.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. KAT returns to enjoy the moment<\/p>\n Things looked bleak for Karl-Anthony Towns with 5:06 left in the third quarter. He came up gimpy, holding his left knee on the New York bench and for a minute, covering his head with a towel, either because of the pain or the disappointment of getting hurt. \u00a0<\/p>\n His numbers were down the rest of the way \u2013 Towns played less than five scoreless minutes in the fourth \u2013 but he did perk up as the confetti dropped at the end. His stats were solid overall \u2013 16 points, 11 rebounds \u2013 and the lone assist he managed came on one of the\u00a0prettiest and uncanny passes<\/a>\u00a0you\u2019ll\u00a0ever see.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. Which team enjoys the greater Cup effect?<\/p>\n Based on the two Cup title games, the teams that finished second seemed to prosper more from the experience. In 2023, the Lakers were driven to snag the first Cup trophy but topped out in the first round of the playoffs four months later. Instead it was the team they beat, the Indiana Pacers, that turned the experience into a launching pad to reach the East finals that spring and reach the Finals a year later.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The same pattern\u00a0held\u00a0a year ago. Milwaukee won the Cup but took their lumps in the \u201creal\u201d playoffs and were eliminated in the first round. Meanwhile, OKC used their Vegas trip as a foundation of the group that won the 2024 NBA title last June.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Knicks felt late Tuesday that they had learned a bit about their roster and their belief in each other. But the Spurs, beyond the\u00a0initial\u00a0disappointment of losing, talked at length about the learning curve and bonding that may have been fast-tracked this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n