The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament, and the Milwaukee Bucks were the NBA Cup champions last season. Both teams were middle-of-the-pack playoff teams at best in their respective conference those seasons. Los Angeles ended their 2023-24 campaign with a first-round exit after securing the seven seed, and the Bucks were a five-seed last season and also lost in round one. The San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks will be squaring off in the 2025 NBA Cup championship game, and while winning the in-season tournament would bring in some impressive hardware and potential spark momentum going forward, both teams have ambitions even greater than the NBA Cup.
The Knicks are perhaps the frontrunners to get out of the Eastern Conference and make the NBA Finals, and the Spurs have proven that they can beat anybody. So, could this NBA Cup matchup be foreshadowing a potential NBA Finals clash?
The Knicks are the Eastern Conference favorites
This year, the Eastern Conference is wide open. Last year's winners out East, the Indiana Pacers, have been one of the worst teams in the NBA this season with Tyrese Haliburton sidelined. He tore his Achilles tendon in the NBA Finals last season, which is an injury that is holding out Jayson Tatum, too. Despite the play of Jaylen Brown, the Boston Celtics aren't contenders without their best player.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling, the Toronto Raptors have fallen back to Earth with four straight losses since a hot start, and an unexpected team, the Detroit Pistons, is currently atop the conference. Those factors make for an easier-than-usual path for the Knicks to finish the season as the best team in the Eastern Conference, which was evidenced during the team's NBA Cup run.
The 18-7 team ranks fourth league-wide in both scoring (121 points per game) and points against (112.2). Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are among the best players in the NBA, the former as a floor general who can score from anywhere on the court, and the latter as the best shooting big man 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 down the paint when he is on the court. New York is deeper than they've been in years, and they should be viewed as the clear frontrunners to make the NBA Finals in the Eastern Conference, especially after nearly getting there last season.
The Spurs are becoming title contenders quicker than expected
The Spurs underwent a massive rebuild a few years ago in which they acquired tons of draft capital. They seemingly keep hitting on their draft moves. Obviously, Victor Wembanyama is their prized possession. The former number one overall pick was one of the most highly touted prospects ever, and he has lived up to expectations so far. Wembanyama is 7-foot-4. He led the NBA in blocks per game in each of his first two seasons, and he has a modern offensive skill set that shouldn't be possible for someone of his stature.
Wembanyama won the Rookie of the Year, and Stephon Castle made it back-to-back seasons in which a first-year Spur took home that award. The Spurs also drafted Dylan Harper second overall in the 2025 NBA Draft. Despite San Antonio's backcourt depth, the Rutgers product is already making an impact.
Others, such as Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan, are recent draftees who play a role for the Spurs. The team's all-in move of sorts was a trade for De'Aaron Fox last season, and now they are ready to compete for not just the NBA Cup championship but for the NBA Finals. The Western Conference is a lot better than the Eastern Conference, and it oftentimes takes a playoff heartbreak, or two, before a team can make a deep run.
The Spurs are seemingly ahead of schedule, though, and they've shown that they can beat anybody. A fellow 18-7 team, the Spurs have wins over each of the teams 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 had also beaten 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 still probably need to be favored to make the NBA Finals over the Spurs, but they just may have the talent to make the championship series at season's end. Wembanyama is that generational talent, and he is surrounded by the perfect crop of players. If the Spurs go on a surprise run, as they have done in the NBA Cup, they could expect to match up with the Knicks in another highly anticipated battle.
