The New York Knicks ended a 52-year drought by beating the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup final in Las Vegas.
OG Anunoby’s 28 points led all Knicks starters in double figures, including 25 to Jalen Brunson, who was named NBA Cup MVP, as New York beat Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs 124-113 in Wednesday’s tournament decider (all-time AEDT).
Anunoby shot 5 of 10 from downtown and added nine rebounds in 40 minutes, while Karl Anth0ny-Towns (16 points, 11 rebounds) had a double-double and overcame a mid-game leg injury.
Watch the NBA with ESPN on Kayo Sports | Stream an average of 9 regular season games LIVE per week plus the best of the NBA playoffs.| New to Kayo? Sign up now and get your first month for just $1.
Wembanyama came off the bench again in his second game following a calf injury and finished with 18 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes. Dylan Harper led San Antonio in scoring with 21 from the second unit and Stephon Castle notched a double-double with 15 points and 12 assists.
It was a close game loaded with points and it was neck and neck until New York rallied late with a 35-19 fourth-quarter blitz.
After trailing by five, the Knicks opened the final term with an 8-0 score in the first minute and a half and remained in control the rest of the way, not letting San Antonio get closer than three.
It gives the iconic New York franchise its first piece of silverware since the team’s 1973 NBA Finals victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Now, long-suffering Knicks fans will dare to dream of bigger things as the 18-7 team, which sits in second place in the East in the midst of a five-game winning streak not including Wednesday’s game, begins the rest of the season.
Spurs’ 18-7 surge will also take a lot of confidence out of the tournament after defeat the juggernaut OKC Thunder in the semifinals and end their 16-game winning streak heading into Wednesday’s trophy final.
Each New York player will take home the top prize of approximately $530,000, while San Antonio players will receive approximately $212,000 as runners-up.
This is the only NBA Cup game where statistics or score do not count towards the teams’ regular season records.
New York declared from the start, taking an early 7-2 lead. The Spurs managed to come back and took a 14-12 advantage as Wembanyama, who did not play any of the first quarters of the semifinals, entered Wednesday’s game at the 7:03 mark of the first game to a loud ovation.
A nifty dish from Towns to Anunoby under the bucket while double-teamed was one of the highlights of the first quarter.
San Antonio led 30-28 at the first break, with Devin Vassell leading the way with seven points and Harrison Barnes and De’Aaron Fox adding six each.
The Spurs stayed ahead in the second quarter, with triples from Julian Champagnie and Harper opening a 41-35 advantage in the first two minutes.
New York was stuck in a scoring drought, missing six straight shots to force Mike Brown to call a timeout with his team leading 46-40 at 6:59 of the second period.
Anunoby stayed hot with three timeouts to bring New York to that many points and bring their point total to 16 points.
In the final minute of the half, Anunoby finished a tough layup, then delivered a quick shot to bring it within 20 points and cut the Spurs’ lead to 61-59 at the main break.
“He did everything tonight,” NBA legend Dwyane Wade said of Anunoby on Prime Video commentary.
But San Antonio regained control in the second half. Castle’s play was on full display when he dished out his 11th assist of the third term, while a Harper layup with 6:33 left gave the Spurs their first double-digit lead at 78-68.
There was an injury concern for Towns in the third term, with the Knicks center limping off the court and recovering in the locker room. Towns eventually returned to the bench but was clearly in pain as he received treatment on his left leg.
Wembanyama had his most dominant period late in the third term, when the superstar center scored 12 of his 18 points, including an alley-oop and two 3-pointers.
“The aliens are taking over!” exclaimed commentator Ian Eagle.
The Spurs led 94-89 at the final change.
New York came back into the game to start the fourth period with an emphatic 8-0 run – capped by a Jordan Clarkson three – to take a 97-94 lead a minute and a half into the period, with Wembanyama watching from the bench.
In a key moment of the game, a Champagnie three was disallowed after New York was warned for a foul before the shot. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson then lost it to the referees and committed a technical foul.
That meant that instead of the Spurs going up four, New York got a technical free throw with a chance to go up eight, but Brunson couldn’t add to the Knicks’ 104-97 lead.
Towns and Wembanyama both returned to the ball game with 4:49 left as New York’s lead was 110-105.
Josh Hart made two big clutch plays on either end of the court, blocking a Fox jumper then hitting a three with the game-winning shot clock to extend the Knicks’ advantage to 115-107.
But Harper immediately responded with a three and the game resumed at 115-110 with 2:42 remaining.
An outside dagger from Anunoby regained an eight-point lead for the Knicks with less than two minutes remaining as time began to wind down for San Antonio.
It would be the game-winning shot as San Antonio couldn’t let anything go for the next minute as the Knicks finally cruised to victory.
New York became the third winner of the NBA Cup, joining the Milwaukee Bucks (2024) and the LA Lakers (2023).
