30 groups entered, 4 confronted off in Las Vegas, and now two stay within the battle for the NBA Cup. One, an underdog of types that fought tooth and nail to make it right here. One other, the favorites within the Japanese Convention, who’ve loads of playoff expertise. But, it looks as if it could possibly be anybody’s recreation when the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks face off within the NBA Cup Finals.
The Knicks steamrolled the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic in Vegas, on the again of dominant performances from Jalen Brunson. The All-Star guard is having one other nice scoring season, averaging 28.8 factors and 6.4 assists. New York has been on a roll since introducing Josh Hart again into the beginning lineup. They’ve gained 9 of their final 10 video games and are a real NBA title contender within the East.
San Antonio is enjoying their greatest basketball and is again to full power. They’ve important momentum coming off a win in opposition to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder within the semifinals. The NBA world has been gassing up the Spurs for the reason that win, launching them into title contender conversations. A win in opposition to the Knicks wouldn’t simply convey the franchise its first-ever NBA Cup; it could show they’ll win the largest video games, even after the excessive of taking down the very best group within the league.
The Knicks are an awesome offensive group and a near-top-10 protection. The Spurs might want to lock in defensively and benefit from mismatches offensively in the event that they wish to win the Cup and its money prize.
December 16, 2025 | 7:30 PM CT
Watch: Amazon Prime | Pay attention: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Accidents: Kyle Mangas – Out (G League)
Knicks Accidents: Miles McBride – Out (ankle), Landry Shamet – Out (shoulder)
The Knicks’ offense begins and ends with Brunson. He’s unbelievable at creating area off the dribble and within the pick-and-roll. He’ll punish groups for switching greater defenders on him through the use of his nice footwork to get open from three or slice to the rim. Very similar to the opposite scoring guards the Spurs have confronted within the cup, he’s an elite foul-baiter. Brunson takes 6.7 free throws per recreation. It’s secure to imagine Stephon Fortress shall be tasked with guarding Brunson on Tuesday evening. He made an influence and defended with out fouling in opposition to the Thunder. He’ll have to do the identical in opposition to the Knicks.
Exploiting defensive mismatches
Groups have been dead-set on guarding Victor Wembanyama with smaller, stronger gamers, attempting to get beneath him and push him round, whereas their huge males roam and defend the rim. If the Knicks observe this technique, meaning Hart will possible be the matchup on Wembanyama. He’s an superior defender who can guard up and down. Though Wemby punished the Thunder by merely taking pictures excessive of lots of them. The opposite draw back to that matchup is that Karl-Anthony Cities should guard a faster, extra expert perimeter participant. Cities’ lack of ability to guard the rim or sustain on the perimeter would be the defensive flaw that San Antonio wants to take advantage of.
The Knicks are an enormous, bodily group. They’re third within the NBA in offensive rebounds and fourth in whole rebounds. Mitchell Robinson is a beast within the paint, Cities is a bodily rebounder, and Hart at all times performs greater than his peak. The Spurs are a superb rebounding group in their very own proper, however a lazy evening on the glass may bury them. New York is nice at taking pictures from deep and ending within the paint as-is, and it turns into even simpler for them when they’re broad open on kickbacks or put-back dunks. Second-chance factors are debilitating in a high-stakes recreation like this. Profitable the rebounding battle shall be paramount for the Spurs.
