Chapter 06

The NBA Cup

Seven wins, no losses, and a trophy the team refused to hang a banner for.

**NBA** · official video · Extended highlightsPoster: Official NBA video artwork · Cup final highlightsWatch on YouTube

December 16 · Las Vegas

A trophy
in December

The Spurs led by eleven. New York closed on a 43–21 run, and Mitchell Robinson kept possessions alive by hand: fifteen rebounds, ten of them offensive.

Brunson took Cup MVP. The trophy went in a case, not on a banner. December, as it turned out, protected nobody from January.

43–21The closing run

0Banners raised for it

Jordan Clarkson with the Knicks at the 2025 NBA Cup — Daiei Onoguchi / FireBirdFilm, CC BY 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons

Cup

Emirates NBA Cup · 2025

Champions

7–0 in the tournament · Dec 16 · Las Vegas

The run

Seven games,
zero losses

Group play swept 4–0. A quarterfinal at the Garden, then two nights in Las Vegas where the December version of this team looked complete. New York was 13–6 overall when the Cup ended.

Group · GM 1

Magic · MSG

Group play opens; Towns 31 and 12

118–109 W

Group · GM 2

Raptors · Toronto

Bridges 24 on 16 shots

121–112 W

Group · GM 3

Celtics · MSG

The group decided in one Friday night

126–119 W

Group · GM 4

Bulls · Chicago

Group swept, 4–0; point-differential first seed

110–98 W

Quarterfinal

Bucks · MSG

Hart everywhere: 14 rebounds, 4 steals

116–104 W

Semifinal

Thunder · Las Vegas

Brunson 38, seven straight to close

119–115 W

Championship

Spurs · Las Vegas

Down 11, the 43–21 close; Brunson Cup MVP

124–113 W

Spike Lee at a Knicks 2025 NBA Cup game — Daiei Onoguchi / FireBirdFilm, CC BY 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons

Victor Wembanyama with San Antonio at the 2025 NBA Cup — Daiei Onoguchi / FireBirdFilm, CC BY 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons

The morning-after argument

“The Knicks Are Champions* & Do You Care About The NBA Cup?”

No Dunks · December 17, 2025 · The asterisk argument, stated out loud the morning after. Watch ↗