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Dec 16, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; The New York Knicks react after winning the Emirates NBA Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Knicks Surprisingly Outranked by Spurs Despite NBA Cup Win

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Dec 18, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The New York Knicks are coming off of about as strong of a reputation-builder as a team can ask for at this early point in the NBA's regular season.

Despite still having over two-thirds of the regularly-scheduled games to look forward to, they've already bolstered their contention dreams by winning the Emirates NBA Cup, thriving in the playoff atmosphere that was suddenly thrust upon those looking to get a taste of the postseason well in advance of series-based elimination basketball. Now, more than ever before, the Knicks have solidified themselves as the team to beat in the east.

Not every power ranker, though, agrees with the sentiment that the Knicks are convincingly better than the San Antonio Spurs, the team that New York had to get out of the way to capture the Cup.

New York Knicks Center Karl-Anthony Towns Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Despite outplaying the young upstarts with their team defense, superior hustle and a star who was ready to put the scoring load on his back, they finished a few ticks below the Spurs in ESPN's post-tourney roundup.

Knicks Getting Inexplicably Lapped

The Knicks finished at No. 6 in looking ahead to the Christmas portion of the NBA's calendar, somehow dropping by a spot after winning 17 of their last 21 games. Vincent Goodwill had nothing but compliments to pour onto the tournament victors, as they've clearly entered a specific mode since growing more comfortable with new coach Mike Brown.

"They're firmly back in the top three of the East, storming their way to the NBA Cup final and claiming the tournament trophy against the Spurs in a game that won't count in the standings," he wrote. "But what's visible is the improvement on the defensive end -- most notably, Karl-Anthony Towns holding up well as a rim protector. He won defensive player of the game -- a Knicks tradition -- in their semifinal win over Orlando."

Unfortunately for the Knicks, the Spurs managed to excite the league's viewing audience into thinking about an intriguing future instead of appreciating the Knicks amidst their groove. San Antonio's centerpiece re-joined his guard-heavy squad during the middle of their Cup run, and he has the historic franchise looking ready to get back to competing for end-of-season titles.

Sitting at the eighth-ranked spot in ESPN's list upon their last summarization, they've now cut that deficit in half to jump to No. 4, several spots ahead of the team they just stomached a 124-113 loss to.

San Antonio Spurs Center Victor Wembanyama Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"Despite their loss to the Knicks in the NBA Cup final, the Spurs are beaming with confidence after a record of 9-3 without Victor Wembanyama," Michael C. Wright wrote. "They are feeling even better about their prospects now that he is back in the mix. Wembanyama generates most of the headlines in San Antonio, but the trio of guards De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and rookie Dylan Harper has proven to be a problem for opponents."

The Knicks brief time on top of the league, or at least the Spurs, evidently couldn't even last a day. At least now they'll have more motivation to continue looking ahead to more respected playoff honors.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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