Karl-Anthony Towns Explains Why NBA Cup Matchup Won't Matter in the Finals

The New York Knicks secured the 2025 NBA Cup title, taking down the San Antonio Spurs in the championship game of the in-season tournament.

The Knicks defeated the Spurs with a 124-113 final score in Las Vegas, marking the first of their two wins over San Antonio in the 2025-26 season.

Understandably, this NBA Cup matchup has been a topic of discussion heading into the upcoming NBA Finals matchup between the Knicks and Spurs. But on Monday, New York big man Karl-Anthony Towns downplayed the importance of this recent history.

“I feel like a Finals is won by a team and I think both of our teams are different than what you saw at the cup,” Towns said. “We’re not the same team that we were at the cup, nor are they the same team that we played at the cup.”

More Basketball:Mike Brown Admits the Challenge of Containing Victor Wembanyama: ‘You Pray'

Towns and the Knicks are on an 11-game winning streak heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals. New York notched back-to-back series sweeps over the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers, with the team’s last loss coming in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Spurs made their way past the reigning NBA-champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, defeating Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his squad in Game 7.

More Basketball:Karl-Anthony Towns Breaks Down the Honor of Representing New York City

Game 1 of the NBA Finals will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 2:39 PM.