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We can dispense with the bells and whistles now: the inflated point differentials and arcane tiebreakers, the only-on-special-occasions scheduling and intermittently unsafe or unavailable alternate playing surfaces, etc. What’s left at the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup is all that’s ever left when the game matters most: two teams, with only one game and one another standing between them and a big ol’ trophy.
What began as a league-wide effort to inject some flavor into the period between opening night and Christmas Day concludes with two teams vying for 35 pounds of sterling silver topped with 24-karat gold. Out of the West: the San Antonio Spurs, who shook off an early double-digit deficit to the Oklahoma City Thunder — the defending NBA champions and a mid-coronation juggernaut that was riding a 16-game winning streak and a 24-1 start to the season — with the kind of confidence that can only come from knowing that you have a Hulk:
Victor Wembanyama played 21 minutes in his first NBA action in nearly a month; San Antonio outscored Oklahoma City by 22 points in those 21 minutes. (Welcome back, big fella.) With the transformational center joining De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell in a quartet of 20-plus-point scorers, the Spurs came back from 16 down to hand the Thunder just their second loss of the season, pulling off the upset — although not a gigantic one, considering they’re 18-7 and all — to punch their ticket to the championship game.
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Joining them in the Cup final: the New York Knicks, who advanced out of the East by knocking off the Orlando Magic for the second time in a week behind a masterful performance from their captain:
Jalen Brunson’s 19th 40-point game as a Knick — third-most in franchise history, behind only Patrick Ewing and Bernard King — paced yet another high-octane outing for the NBA’s No. 2 offense. With Brunson dealing, Karl-Anthony Towns torching Orlando’s bigs to the tune of 29 points on 11 shots, and the wing trio of OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart continuing their sterling starts to the season, the Knicks shot 60.7% from the field…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/spurs-vs-knicks-3-questions-for-the-nba-cup-title-game–how-will-new-york-deal-with-victor-wembanyama-142349120.html
Author : Dan Devine
Publish date : 2025-12-16 14:23:00
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