The New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs at NBA Cup final on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in Europe), 124-113. The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was witness of the third edition of the NBA Cup, which has featured three different champions, Los Angeles Lakers in 2023 and Milwaukee Bucks in 2024.
Jalen Brunson, guard for the Knicks, was chosen as MVP of the final, succeeding LeBron James in 2023 and Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2024, dedicated his awards to his teammates, specially OG Anunoby, Tyler Kolek, Jordan Clarkson and Mitchell Robinson, as it was the collective effort that awarded them the victory.
The sad news is that Victor Wembanyama, star of the Spurs, said that his grandmother had died earlier on Tuesday, and cried in the pres-conference. The French player started on the bench, still recovering from a calf injury that had him sidelined for 12 months, and it wasn't one of his best performances.
How much does the NBA Cup matters for the "real" play-offs?
Based on viewership numbers, it seems that the NBA Cup is growing in popularity. However, this mid-season mini-tournament (with every game except for the final counting for the regular season), which was created solely to boos TV ratings during the NFL end of season, is naturally just an apetiser for the play-offs and post-season later in spring.
And so far, the two teams that have lifted the NBA Cup in spring had not had too much success in the play-offs: both Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated in first round in the seasons they won NBA Cup.
Meanwhile, the NBA Cup runner-ups went on to reach the NBA finals later in the season: Indiana Pacers, runner-up of the Cup in 2023, was later finalist in the NBA Finals 2024, and Oklahoma City Thunder, which lost the NBA Cup final in December 2024, went on to win the NBA Finals in 2025.