Knicks-Spurs: 4 takeaways as New York captures Emirates NBA Cup

The last time the Knicks and the Spurs played a game with so much significance – as in hardware, extra cash and bragging rights – 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 hadn’t been born yet when New York and San Antonio met in the 1999 NBA Finals.

The Knicks beat the Spurs at T-Mobile Arena 124-113 in the single-game elimination that decided the third edition of the league’s 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).  

The Knicks turned in a performance of collective excellence, getting indispensable contributions from the eight players who logged all two of the 240 minutes. They came away with their pockets a little more full and their confidence brimming, too, as the NBA schedule bears down on Christmas and gets serious when the calendar flips to 2026.  

Here are four takeaways from an entertaining game that packed a bit more heft than what you’d normally expect from a night in mid-December:  

1. The Knicks had depth and Mike Brown used it

The first words out of guard Jalen Brunson’s mouth when he was announced as the NBA Cup MVP on-court, postgame ceremony paid tribute to his team’s role players, specifically OG Anunoby, Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson and Mitchell Robinson. “Without them, we don’t win this,” said Brunson, who joined LeBron James  (2023) and Giannis Antetkounmpo (2024) as Cup MVP.  

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.  

Robinson, one of the league’s most tenacious offensive rebounders, grabbed 10 of those, contributing to New York’s 32 second-chance points and claiming more ball off the offensive glass than San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama managed all night (six).  

Kolek and Clarkson, meanwhile, got 24 of their combined 29 points in the second half. Not only did they spark the Knicks’ fourth-quarter dominance Tuesday – 35-19 – but they flipped a script that had the Spurs winning the battle of reserves. Through three quarters, San Antonio’s backups had a 37-15 edge, but in the fourth the Knicks bench beat them 18-8.  

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? That’s a tough way to go through a long season.  

Now Brown has helped his team win a trophy, give extra credibility to its 18-7 record and write a fresh narrative that isn’t dominated by minutes police fretting about overuse and possible breakdowns of five iron Knicks.  

Said Brunson: “That’s going to be our motto going forward: We’re going to find a way.” 

2. Don’t get used to Wemby off the bench

The Spurs’ 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. 

But these were the first and second games Wembanyama didn’t start in his three NBA seasons. He scored 18 points in 25 minutes but 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.  

All of which is a way of saying, there probably are NBA Cups in the spectacular big man’s future, along with some of the jewelry teams earn in June.  

3. KAT returns to enjoy the moment

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.  

His numbers were down the rest of the way – Towns played less than five scoreless minutes in the fourth – but he did perk up as the confetti dropped at the end. His stats were solid overall – 16 points, 11 rebounds – and the lone assist he managed came on one of the prettiest and uncanny passes you’ll ever see.  

4. Which team enjoys the greater Cup effect?

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.  

The same pattern held a year ago. Milwaukee won the Cup but took their lumps in the “real” 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.  

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 initial disappointment of losing, talked at length about the learning curve and bonding that may have been fast-tracked this week. 

* * *

Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.