The New York Knicks ended more than a half-century of NBA trophy drought with their victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
Published December 17, 2025
OG Anunoby scored 28 points as the New York Knicks ended a 52-year trophy drought with a 124-113 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup Finals on Tuesday.
Forward Anunoby made five 3-pointers and point guard Jalen Brunson scored 25 points as New York won its first silver medal since the 1973 NBA Finals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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San Antonio entered the finals full of confidence after defeating top seed and reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City in the semifinals on Saturday, thanks to the great play of French phenom Victor Wembaneyama.
But New York’s tenacious performance dashed San Antonio’s hopes of winning the Cup game.
The Knicks showed a balanced offensive performance while limiting Wenbanyama to 18 points, and after falling behind by 11 points late in the third quarter, they caught up in the fourth quarter.
Seven Knicks players scored in double figures, with Anunoby and Brunson supported by Karl-Anthony Towns (16 points), Jordan Clarkson (15 points) and Tyler Kolek (14 points), with Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges each scoring 11 points.
Mitchell Robertson made a valuable defensive cameo off the bench, grabbing 15 rebounds with two blocks.
“OG Anunoby, Tyler Korek, Jordan Clarkson, Mitchell Robertson – they played their hearts out tonight,” said Brunson, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“We can’t win without them,” Brunson said. “Even if we were down by 10 points or whatever, we found a way to win. That’s going to be our motto going forward. Find a way.”
San Antonio appeared to be heading for a win, but Wembaneyama hit a 27-foot 3-pointer with just over two minutes left in the third period to put the Spurs ahead 92-81.
However, Clarkson and Kolek hit 3-pointers to cut the Spurs’ lead to five points, and the Knicks found some momentum in the fourth quarter, outscoring their opponents 35-19 and clinching the victory.
the last one standing
Knicks head coach Mike Brown said winning the title boded well for his team’s hopes of winning the NBA Finals in his first season on the job.
“When you can be a part of an event, especially at the iconic MSG (Madison Square Garden) where you can be the last one to hang a banner, you take it seriously,” Brown said. “And we all took it seriously.”
For San Antonio, Dylan Harper led the scoring off the bench with 21 points, and De’Aaron Fox was the starter with 16 points.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson claimed that overall deficiencies, rather than Wenbanyama’s performance, were the cause of the loss.
“I think we struggled more as a team…we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and it hurt to get out in transition,” Johnson said.
“When we played in the right spaces, with the right spacing and the right tempo, we had some really good looks. And we missed it. I think it was probably more of a team issue than I thought Victor was struggling with personally.”
But Johnson believes San Antonio has a lot to build on as it chases Oklahoma City for first place in the Western Conference.
“We had a really competitive game against a really, really good team,” Johnson said. “An experienced team that has been in similar situations. I think being able to feel those games, work on those games and be in the moment of those games is a valuable experience.”
