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GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — When the New York Knicks declined to hang a banner after beating the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA Cup, they did so because they were waiting to celebrate something bigger.
That wait is at 53 years and it can only end now by beating the Spurs again.
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Nearly a week after clinching their first NBA Finals berth since 1999, the Knicks were at last able to practice Sunday while knowing who they were practicing for, after Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs knocked off Oklahoma City on Saturday night in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
“I mean, they’re a special team,” Knicks guard Deuce McBride said. “Obviously they have the Defensive Player of the Year, obviously a great organization and they’ve got a lot of great young guys, so we’re just excited for this matchup.”
It’s the same one as the last time the Knicks were in the NBA Finals, when the Spurs beat them 27 years ago to leave New York without a title since 1973.
The Knicks believed they were going to have a good shot at ending the drought this year and got a test run at chasing a championship back in December, when they beat San Antonio in Las Vegas to win the NBA Cup.
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The Knicks then passed on joining the Lakers and Milwaukee, the previous winners of the in-season tournament, in raising a banner at Madison Square Garden to acknowledge it. They aren’t putting much stock in that victory six months later, knowing how different both teams are.
“Obviously there was good energy around that, but I don’t think that’s really going to be any equivalent to what the atmosphere or the energy is going to be like at their place, or obviously at the Garden,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said.
“So technically that game didn’t happen, so I don’t think there’s anything that we can learn from,” Hart added, poking fun at the fact that the Cup final, an 83rd game for the two teams, doesn’t count in the standings or statistics.
The teams split the two games that did matter, with San Antonio’s victory on New Year’s Eve starting a midseason spiral for a Knicks club that arrived with a 23-9 record. Then, after…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-beat-spurs-nba-cup-194339668.html
Author : BRIAN MAHONEY
Publish date : 2026-05-31 19:43:00
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