Mitch Johnson sees advantage in NBA Cup experience even after loss to Knicks

The The San Antonio Spurs seemed to have all the momentum in the world going to the finals NBA Cup after they dispatched the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals of the competition. However, on Tuesday night, the Spurs were stopped by the New York Knicks, with the Knicks using a 35-19 fourth quarter blitz to cruise to a 124-113 victory and the NBA Cup championship trophy.

This Spurs team was not shy about winning big and winning all the silverware they could possibly know. But this young team clearly has a lot more room to grow, and this loss will only be a learning experience for this young team, as head coach Mitch Johnson so succinctly put it in his postgame presser.

“Being able to feel those games, to work in those games, to be in the moment in those games is an invaluable experience. We showed some signs that we can be a pretty good team. We also showed that we have a lot of areas for improvement. I think that’s what we’re living today, and hopefully tomorrow we can continue to be a little bit better and minimize some of the things we need to improve on,” Johnpour said. X (formerly Twitter).

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson sees the NBA Cup run as an invaluable experience. Just 25 games in, and he’s encouraged by the signs that this group is already starting to look like a team that can be pretty good. 🏀⬆ pic.twitter.com/BKvCiZD1IV

— SpursRΞPORTΞR (@SpursReporter) December 17, 2025

Victor Wembayama was muted in Spurs’ loss in the NBA Cup Final

Wembanjama continued to come off the bench on Tuesday night as Spurs recovered from a calf injury. Although the Spurs star had such a good impact on his team’s play in the NBA Cup semifinals, things didn’t go so smoothly for him in the loss to the Knicks.

He was on the floor when the Knicks made a late surge, and his misses from beyond the arc only made San Antonio bleed worse. Furthermore, the Knicks bullied him on the glass. Vembanjama had problems today as he mourned the loss of his grandmother, this seems to be the exception rather than the rule for the superstar in the making.