Why the Spurs vs. Knicks NBA Cup Championship has the characteristics of an NBA Finals matchup

The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural tournament of the season, a The Milwaukee Bucks were NBA Cup champions last season. Both teams were at best mid-tier playoff teams in their respective conferences those seasons. Los Angeles ended its 2023-24 campaign with a first-round exit after securing a seven-seed, and the Bucks were a five-seed last season and also lost in the first round. ThThe San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks will battle it out in the 2025 NBA Cup Championship Game, and while winning the tournament in the season would bring impressive hardware and potential momentum going forward, both teams have ambitions even bigger than the NBA Cup.

The Knicks may be the frontrunners to make it out of the Eastern Conference NBA Finalsand the Spurs have proven they can beat anyone. So, could this NBA Cup matchup foreshadow a potential NBA Finals showdown?

The Knicks are the favorites in the Eastern Conference

This year, the Eastern Conference is wide open. Last year’s East winners, the Indiana Pacers, have been one of the worst teams in the NBA this season with Tyrese Halliburton is out. He tore his Achilles tendon in the NBA Finals last season, an injury that is also holding out Jayson Tatum. Despite the play of Jaylen Brown, the Boston Celtics are not contenders without their best player.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling, the Toronto Raptors have come back down to Earth with four straight losses from a hot start, and an unexpected team, the Detroit Pistons, is currently at the top of the conference. Those factors allow the Knicks an easier-than-usual path to finishing the season as the best team in the Eastern Conference, as demonstrated during the team’s NBA Cup run.

The 18-7 team ranks fourth in the league in both scoring (121 points per game) and points against (112.2). Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are among them the best players in the NBAthe former as a floor general who can score from anywhere on the court, and the latter as the leading scorer in league history.

The star duo is surrounded by defensive studs. OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart are elite at the point of attack, and Mitchell Robinson holds the paint when he’s on the court. New York is deeper than it has been in years, and they should be viewed as the clear front-runners to reach the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, especially after nearly getting there last season.

Spurs are becoming title contenders faster than expected

The Spurs went through a massive rebuild a few years ago that saw them acquire tons of capital. They seem to continue to hit their draft picks. Obviously, Victor Vembanyama is their prized possession. The former number one overall pick was one of the most praised looks everand so far it has lived up to expectations. Vembanjama is 7 feet tall. He led the NBA in blocks per game in each of his first two seasons, and has a modern offensive skill set that shouldn’t be possible for someone of his stature.

Vembanjama won the Rookie of the Year title, and Castle Stephon has been successful for a number of seasons in which freshman Spur took home that award. The Spurs also selected Dylan Harper with the second overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Despite San Antonio’s backcourt depth, the Rutgers product is already making an impact.

Others, like Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan, are recent role-playing recruits for the Spurs. A kind of all-in move by the team was a trade for De’Aaron Fox last season, and now they are ready to compete not only for the NBA Cup championship but also for the NBA Finals. The Western Conference is much better than the Eastern Conference, and it often takes a playoff heartbreak or two before a team can make a deep run.

However, Spurs are seemingly ahead of schedule and have shown they can beat anyone. The second team at 18-7, the Spurs have wins over every team ahead of them in the standings. Before handing the Oklahoma City Thunder just their second loss of the season in the NBA Cup semifinals, San Antonio also defeated the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.

Winning the NBA Cup would be a step in the right direction of true contention for the Spurs. They are young and still developing, and the four Western Conference teams listed above probably still have to be favored to get into the NBA Finals over the Spurs, but they just might have the talent to get into the championship series at the end of the season. Vembanjama is that generational talent, and he is surrounded by the perfect number of players. If the Spurs make a surprise start, as they did in the NBA Cup, they could expect to be paired with the Knicks in another highly anticipated battle.