Knicks win NBA Cup after rallying to beat Spurs 124-113

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It's been more than half a century since the Knicks hung an NBA championship banner inside Madison Square Garden.

The wait since 1973 to add another one didn't end on Tuesday night, but New York can make room for the NBA Cup banner.

OG Anunoby scored 28 points, Jalen Brunson had 25, and the Knicks rallied to beat Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs 124-113.

“This is great and we’re going to enjoy this,” Brunson said. “But once we leave tomorrow, we’re moving on.”

This is a championship roster — NBA Cup MVP Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges cut down the nets in college at Villanova — with high hopes of representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.

“This is a single-elimination tournament when you get to a certain point, so every game counts,” New York coach Mike Brown said. “There was pressure on every game if you expect to be who you think you are. When you're able to have success, it breeds confidence in everybody in the organization.”

New York's Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and 11 rebounds despite battling a calf injury. He went into the locker room with a minute left before halftime and later exited for the bench with 5:06 remaining in the third quarter and didn't return until late in the fourth.

Dylan Harper led the Spurs with 21 points, Wembanyama scored 18 and De'Aaron Fox had 16.

Wembanyama excused himself early from the postgame news conference because he said “just lost somebody” on Tuesday.

New York dominated inside, outrebounding the Spurs 59-42, with Mitchell Robinson collecting 15 boards, including 10 on the offensive end in 18 minutes. That helped give the Knicks a 56-44 edge in points in the lane.

The Spurs, however, led for much of the game before the Knicks went on a 13-1 run that began late in the third quarter to go up 100-95. New York never trailed again.

“After 25 games in, I believe that we’ve shown some signs that we can be a pretty good team," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We’ve also shown that we have a lot of areas of improvement. I think that’s where we were living today.”

The Knicks got more than a trophy. Each player with a standard contract got an extra $318,560 for winning, making the total $530,933 for even reaching the final.

This game doesn't count in the standings, so both teams remain 18-7, putting them atop their respective divisions.

Just making the final bodes well for both teams. The previous four finalists — Los Angeles Lakers, Indiana, Oklahoma City and Milwaukee — also made the playoffs. The Pacers made the Eastern Conference finals in 2024, and the Thunder won the NBA championship last season.

Knicks: At Indiana on Thursday night.

Spurs: Host Washington on Thursday night.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) drives against New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots against New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) reacts after a dunk against the New York Knicks during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) dunks the ball against the San Antonio Spurs during an NBA Cup championship basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Kirby Lee/Pool Photo via AP)

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, left, shoots the ball past San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) during an NBA Cup championship basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Kirby Lee/Pool Photo via AP)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — For San Antonio, the NBA Cup final was an education. A painful education.

The Spurs let an 11-point third quarter lead slip away and then some on Tuesday night, falling to the New York Knicks 124-113 in the Cup championship game.

San Antonio led 92-81 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter, when Victor Wembanyama — who played off the bench once again as he works his way back from a strained left calf — connected on a deep 3-pointer.

The score the rest of the way: Knicks 43, Spurs 21. San Antonio shot 6 for 23 over those final 14 minutes. It got outrebounded 25-8 — a staggering differential. The Knicks outscored the Spurs 18-4 in the paint over that stretch, too.

All one-sided numbers, and that's how the game got away.

“It’s do-or-die, I think, out there,” said Spurs rookie Dylan Harper, who led San Antonio with 21 points off the bench. "You’ve seen the level of intensity rise up for us, and them. Obviously, they came out with the win. But for us, it's not taking anything for granted; I think that's the biggest thing. When we all go out there, we all know that we've got to play 110% in order to win things like this.”

The Knicks wound up splitting about $5 million in additional bonus money, pushing their total to $530,933 per player for winning the Cup. The Spurs had to settle — such as it is — for $212,373 each.

"I'm assuming that we're feeling pretty frustrated because we lost the game," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "I’m also feeling after 25 games in, I believe, that we’ve shown some signs that we can be a pretty good team. And we’ve also shown that we have a lot of areas of improvement. And I think that’s where we’re living today and hopefully tomorrow. We can continue to get a little bit better and minimize some of the things that we need to improve on.”

The Spurs are 18-7; Tuesday's loss doesn't factor into the record for this season. They've had four of their key players — Wembanyama, Harper, De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle — together for exactly two games, those being the Cup semifinal win over Oklahoma City on Saturday and the Cup final loss to the Knicks. The only teams in the Western Conference with better records than the Spurs right now are the Thunder and Denver.

There's a lot to like, even on a night that didn't go San Antonio's way.

Wembanyama was emotional afterward, for reasons that had nothing to do with the outcome. He revealed following the game that he was struggling with news that someone close to him died earlier in the day.

When asked about the game, he indicated it would be a learning experience.

“It's the best practice for important games,” Wembanyama said. “Of course. Our focus is already on the playoffs. Playoffs are going to be the biggest time of the year, so I guess it's good that we got this experience today.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

San Antonio Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox (4) shoots against New York Knicks guard Tyler Kolek (13) during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) shoots against the New York Knicks during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) reacts after a dunk against the New York Knicks during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) shoots the ball past New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) in the second half of an NBA Cup championship basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Kirby Lee/Pool Photo via AP)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, right, dunks the ball past New York Knicks guard Tyler Kolek in the second half of an NBA Cup championship basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Kirby Lee/Pool Photo via AP)