The New York Knicks are the 2025 NBA Cup champions, capturing the Emirates-sponsored trophy for the first time with a hard-fought 124-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas. The win capped a tournament run that saw the Knicks rally from a 10-point third-quarter deficit, showcasing a poise under pressure that head coach Mike Brown believes will serve them well when the real stakes arrive in the spring. The championship game was a testament to depth, as key contributions from the bench, including Jordan Clarkson’s clutch three-pointers and Mitchell Robinson’s monstrous 15-rebound effort, propelled the Knicks past a Spurs team led by Victor Wembanyama. The victory was sealed with a decisive fourth-quarter run, giving New York a signature early-season triumph.
At the heart of the Knicks’ Cup run was point guard Jalen Brunson, who was named the NBA Cup MVP. Brunson, who dropped 40 points in the semifinal win over the Orlando Magic to secure New York’s spot in the final, added 25 points and eight assists in the championship clincher. His coach, Mike Brown, has been vocal in recent weeks about Brunson’s place in the larger MVP conversation, arguing that his consistent excellence for the East’s second-seeded team deserves more national recognition. “When you have an MVP of the league candidate in Jalen Brunson… he makes the game easier for everybody,” Brown said after the semifinal. “That’s what MVPs are supposed to do.”
The question of who won the NBA Cup last year is now definitively answered: the New York Knicks. This year’s tournament provided a unique, high-pressure environment that both finalists valued. For the Knicks, navigating single-elimination games against playoff-caliber opponents like the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, and Spurs offered a valuable dress rehearsal. “This is a single-elimination tournament when you get to a certain point. Every game counts,” Brown explained. “That pressure is manufactured without you as a coach having to try to do it all the time. When you’re able to have success doing it, it breeds confidence.”
While the Cup is secured, the broader NBA landscape continues to take shape. Entering the Cup finals, the playoff picture showed the Knicks (18-7) firmly in the East’s No. 2 spot behind the surprising Detroit Pistons (20-5), with the Spurs (18-7) sitting fifth in a loaded Western Conference led by the historic 24-2 Oklahoma City Thunder. The experience gained from this Cup victory, particularly in closing out a tough opponent, is seen as a potential catalyst for the Knicks as they look ahead to the grueling NBA playoffs. The team proved it could handle a playoff-like atmosphere and execute down the stretch, lessons that are invaluable for a squad with championship aspirations.