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2025-26 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Spurs: NBA Cup FINALS

The Knicks “host” the Spurs tonight in the final of the NBA Cup.

Is the NBA Cup fairly meaningless?

Sure, but come on, it’s still cool to win it if you’re here, so just win it, Knicks!

Let’s go, Knicks!

This doesn’t change the Knick win totals, so I won’t mention 58.

227 replies on “2025-26 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Spurs: NBA Cup FINALS”

If I ever have grandchildren, years from now I’ll gather them all together and tell them about a winter’s night in December 2025 when the Knicks against all odds won the prestigious NBA Cup

And they’ll probably say “Grandpa what’s the NBA Cup?”

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I’m a little worried about the prevalence of schizophrenia med commercials on the prime broadcast

“2 Teams 1 Cup” would be some edgy marketing for this thing, if you’re listening, Silver.

And Brian keeps the streak of talking about the 58 wins alive by saying he is not going to talk about it. Masterpiece!

Hart really is pretty bad at guarding the dribble, seems to get routinely blown by every game now.

I don’t like what I’m seeing. It’s like we are suddenly not playing in the G league.

Need to clean up the boards. KAT has actually been great in help protecting the rim but then they need to finish the possession on the miss.

Going to need to see the replay of that KAT pass to have any idea what the hell happened, but could tell it was awesome

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I don’t like what I’m seeing. It’s like we are suddenly not playing in the G league.

You mean the East?

honesty love the swallowed whistles.

glad that kat laser was to og bc it would have broken mitch’s nose

I’m a little worried about the prevalence of schizophrenia med commercials on the prime broadcast

Advertisers zero in on their best audience.

Wembanyama failed to consider the immovable object known as Mitchell Robinson

I’m not saying we need Alvarado but watching Mikal back the ball up the court screams “we need another ball handler!” to me

Kolek gets picked at halfcourt more than I’d like

Whoever said the Cup should be the new All-Star game seems to have inspired the Knicks defense to emulate it

This game is incredibly frustrating. Lights seem too bright for our guys. Only OG out there confident.

OG keeping us in it, Towns and Brunson and Bridges need to get going in the 2H, OG isn’t going for 50

This is a matchup where the Knicks probably would be better off having Deuce in the lineup with the Big 4 instead of Hart.

This is a matchup where the Knicks probably would be better off having Deuce in the lineup with the Big 4 instead of Hart.

Totally. I think this will become increasingly clear in most games now that Hart is cooling off.

Is it my imagination or does Luke Kornet totally own us?

It is not your imagination

Totally. I think this will become increasingly clear in most games now that Hart is cooling off.

He’s streaky every year.

People have already said it, but we miss Deuce right now. Hart didn’t provide very much until the last few minutes.

Asked my sister for her observations: they’re quicker, but green, so we need to slow it down, play our speed, and take advantage of their inexperience. We really miss Deuce. Castle is going to be a beast, he’s their second-best player. Towns better not foul out and needs to take advantage when Wemby is out instead of letting that white guy get position for their many misses. We’re lucky they aren’t better shooters or we’d be down 20.

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Also, everyone looks a bit tight, including Wemby. The game clearly matters to the players.

If Knicks lose this stupid game I’m really gonna be fucking annoyed if they lose at Indiana…

OK that Hart has 4, because he needs to sit. Bring in Mitch here.

No, not Clarkson! We can’t grab an O board, wtf

Didn’t Sochan used to be a regular part of their rotation?

Yeah, but he kinda sucks so now he’s not

Of course the Knicks would play in this meaningless game and have one of their best players get hurt..

hart’s been beat a few times but he’s been our second best help defender and he’s the only one reacting early to the spurs hard doubles and refusals to switch guard guard picks by moving with pace into the open space. mikal isn’t going back door with his normal aggression nor helping with his usual fervor and jalen and kat are not reacting to sas leaving the pick and open early on the slip. he’s not hitting shots but they’re not completely ignoring him either, his motor and physicality have been really absent when he sits.

If you forget about KAT getting hurt and the multiple awful defensive possessions this has actually been a pretty fun game.

Kolek doing such a good job getting into the paint and making things happen. So much more aggressive than he used to be

He grabbed his knee right before Huk came in the first time, tried to wave Brown off but got subbed anyway. So I think it started before that play

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“Miss shots near Mitch” remains our best offense, as it will remain until the day he retires

I’m a temporary Clarkson fan

But it has been all Mitch, 3 O boards in the last minute

I was talking so much shit about clarkson, the cia agent must’ve notified him during the commercial break

We just had Allonzo Trier and Ron Baker shout outs in the 4th quarter of the Cup final, this is why I love this site…

feel like we need to rest mitch if we want him to have something left for the stretch. can go huk if kat is out.

feel like we need to rest mitch if we want him to have something left for the stretch. can go huk if kat is out.

Mitch looking gassed. Need to give him a blow

Mikal has been regressing to his passive self from last season for a bit but it hasn’t fully caught in his numbers

Mikal has been regressing to his passive self from last season but it hasn’t fully caught in his numbers

No stocks, it shows

Clarkson playing great on both ends, Kolek making plays, what’s happening here?

Kolek making a believer out of me. Court vision means more with good players to pass to.

Biggest 4th quarter performance by the Knicks since Game 6 of the 1999 East Finals.

Games 1 and 2 against Boston happened!

We’re not quite out of the woods yet. But the only thing I’m missing is little Nate Robinson roofing Wemby….

Kolek a difference maker on D, whoa

And Hart gets the key rebound, of course

Kolek doubled his career high in points but doesn’t count as his career high because reasons

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I mean this team just beat OKC and really wanted this game. Meaningful victory for the Knicks even if it doesn’t count in the standings.

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Kolek was incredible.
Mitch turned the game around with his OREBs.
Clarkson delivered some big shots.
OG tremendous on both ends.

Didn’t need supernova Brunson or KAT to beat a very good team, coming from behind.

Team is for real.

They were mediocre and outhustled for three quarters and I was ready to write them an obituary, but then came that heroic fourth quarter! Clarkson, Robinson, and Kolek! Who would have predicted that! I liked that Bridges was benched at the end. He was being cooked all night. And I don’t want to hear that this game does not matter. It was a gutsy, gutsy, gutsy win!

Rest everyone next game, especially KAT

Mitch showing why you don’t trade him. A difference maker in limited minutes. Capable of swinging playoff games. Hell yeah.

It’s funny right before this game
I watched the South Park episode about how Saudi Arabia sponsors everything

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that was way too good of a game to even think of it not counting it counted a lot for me!

SVG’s praise is a bit over the top, but he’s directionally correct. The NBA successfully injected some juice into what was the NBA’s lull season. This was much closer to playoff intensity than, like, all-star game intensity.

AND WE FUCKING WON BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

So many games this season the Knicks kind of lollygag through 3 quarters and then assert their will and take over the game.

They’re pretty fucking good.

1

Ticker tape parade down the canyon of heroes!

Now you all know how I felt after to Rojas homer. Welcome to the club of endless smiles.

It’s funny right before this game
I watched the South Park episode about how Saudi Arabia sponsors everything

Tbf Saudi sponsors terrorism but the Emirates only sponsor hedonism

Kudos to Brown for keeping Kolek out there to close the game. Mikal didn’t have it, and he did what he had to do.

Knicks outrebounded Spurs 59-42.

It was the last 15 minutes or so that made the difference. Spurs slight advantage before that.

Jalen is such a good leader – it absolutely was about OG, Kolek, and Mitch tonight (and fine, Clarkson), and he was smart to call then out. He let KAT host the cup first, then praised his teammates. Smart.

1

woo hoo, the kolek cup has been secured…time for MB to get away from the 8 player rotation he keeps using…

with his closing ability, jalen is a top 5 player in the nba right now…

That was fun! Really nice to see the fight this team shows, a lot of great plays from pretty much everyone, Jalen doing what he does and giving credit to all the guys like the true leader he is too.

It feels also that Mike Brown is getting more and more comfortable managing the rotations and the switches, I think he did a masterful job realizing what the game was asking for and trusting the right guys, this experience will be very valuable in the playoffs.

This performance by Kolek tells me:

-We’ll be deep when McBride and Shamet come back. Just need a trustworthy big unless Yabu turns it around

-Having another ball handler like him can free up the offense when faced with a good defensive team.

It really is nuts that all games in the tournament count for something real except the most important one.

been digging the prime nba crew using ThunderKAT as a new nickname…

the KAT/mitch combo works well…mitch/clarkson works really well…

maybe we found something with jalen/tyler together…

It’s weird that Clarkson had 15 points on 15 shots and yet it seemed like he was a big reason we won.

WE WON THE CUP! WE WON THE CUP!

Ok but seriously, two things:
1. I really like what this cup means in terms of us going forward. Why not be the first team to win both the Cup and the Finals in the same year?
2. I’ve yet to witness the Knicks hoist any kind of championship trophy in my lifetime. So seeing them on the podium and all the pizzazz has me stoked.

Crickets so far from the Laker trolls.

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I think he did a masterful job realizing what the game was asking for and trusting the right guys

Agreed. Maybe a quibble here or there, but in crunchtime all Brown’s moves were the right moves, including bringing in Kolek. And obviously getting every second out of Mitch he could – 10 offensive boards in 18 minutes, 15 boards total. It took Mitch a minute to figure out Wemby early, but in the second half he was key.

Kolek is breaking out. It’s one thing to have a couple of good games like this. It’s an entirely different thing to do it in the highest pressure games and play well down the stretch. The 3 point shot has to be consistent, but he’s very obviously improving and ready to be part of the rotation. It would be a mistake to move him in a trade. He has very good upside. He’s going to be one of those guys that gets the most of out his gifts with hard work and hard play.

It may be totally unrelated, but it’s something I mentioned that’s worth at least thinking about. Mikal’s mild step backwards has coincided with Hart being put back into the starting lineup. Certain things like assists and shots figure to decline a bit because Hart will handle the ball more than Mitch which in turn probably takes it out of Mikal’s hands a bit. But it just seems like Mikal kind of vanishes when Hart is playing.

Last comment of the night. IMO Brown is coaching his ass off so far. The minutes distribution has been solid. He’s not afraid to try new things. He’s preparing some of the young guys to be ready and have more serious roles if there are injuries. So far so good.

One of the craziest box scores I’ve ever seen: They had 24 defensive rebounds and we had 23 offensive rebounds

hart’s been beat a few times but he’s been our second best help defender and he’s the only one reacting early to the spurs hard doubles and refusals to switch guard guard picks by moving with pace into the open space. mikal isn’t going back door with his normal aggression nor helping with his usual fervor and jalen and kat are not reacting to sas leaving the pick and open early on the slip. he’s not hitting shots but they’re not completely ignoring him either, his motor and physicality have been really absent when he sits.

Heard, Chef

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