Winners and losers as Knicks claim NBA Cup over Wembanyama, Spurs 124-113 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
An NBA trophy is headed to New York.
The Knicks on Tuesday won the 2025 NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas with a 124-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
It marks New York’s first win in the tournament, as the first two editions went to the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively.
Both teams stayed neck and neck for the opening two-and-a-half quarters, when San Antonio went up by double digits late in the third behind a Victor Wembanyama solo run.
But that didn’t continue in the fourth, as the Knicks capitalized on Wembanyama sitting on the bench due to an injury limiting his minutes. New York outscored the Spurs 35-19 in the fourth, with OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson, the eventual MVP, showing their quality.
Each player on the Knicks will now take home an extra $530,933 for the win. Let’s analyze the game further with winners and losers:
WINNER: OG Anunoby, Knicks
Anunoby chose a fantastic game to go above and beyond. The 28-year-old forward recorded a game-high 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting overall, including a 5 of 10 clip from deep. He added nine rebounds and three assists to his stat line, with four offensive boards.
He may not have claimed the MVP award for his game, but these types of two-way performances can give New York the edge come playoff time.
LOSER: De’Aaron Fox, Spurs
With Wembanyama playing limited minutes on a bench role, these are the types of games where Fox has to reach the next level. That just wasn’t the case.
The point guard went for just 16 points on 5 of 16 shooting with nine assists, two rebounds and five turnovers. He was second to everything offensively and defensively down the stretch, and it’s not ideal that Wembanyama and Dylan Harper outscored him in less minutes.
WINNER: Jalen Brunson, Knicks
It may not be the NBA Championship, but Brunson remains on the right track to potentially winning the major trophy. The 29-year-old, sometimes deemed too small to be the No. 1 option on a title-winning team, assembled a 25-point showing to go with eight rebounds, four rebounds and two blocks.
Not everything was clean, though, despite the MVP win. He shot 11 of 27 overall, 1 of 5 from deep and 2 of 4 from the foul line. How things would look in a four-game series vs. San Antonio is unclear, but it’s a night to celebrate regardless.
LOSER: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs
Wembanyama has enjoyed two 40-point games against the Knicks in his young career, but he was limited to just 25 minutes in this one. Had he played the majority of the fourth quarter instead of Luke Kornet, perhaps the outcome may have been different.
But the young French star will not get the chance to add to his resume early on, scoring 18 points on 7 of 17 shooting with a 2 of 6 mark from deep. He added six rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal. Now he’ll need to stay healthy with San Antonio’s roster in much better shape to embark on a playoff run.
WINNER: Mitchell Robinson, Knicks
Sometimes you need your role players to come up big when needed the most. New York received valiant bench-scoring efforts from Jordan Clarkson and Tyler Kolek, but it was long-time center Robinson that was at the heart of everything.
In 18 minutes, he nabbed 15 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The Spurs had success with second-chance points, but Robinson helped the Knicks tilt that to their advantage, especially without Wemby. New York also had 56 points in the paint to San Antonio’s 44. Again, it’s not the main title, but New York fans will appreciate what Robinson did for them given his time spent with the franchise.