NBA Cup finals pick
Our picks for who will advance through the NBA Cup knockout stage and claim the championship.
It all comes down to this as the New York Knicks (18-7) and San Antonio Spurs (18-7) square off in the NBA Cup final Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
The Knicks advanced to the title game with a convincing 132-120 victory over the Orlando Magic in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday night.
It was the opposite for the Spurs, who overcame a double-digit first-half deficit to pull off a 111-109 victory as 9.5-point underdogs over the heavily-favored Oklahoma City Thunder, who came into the game tied for the best start in NBA history (24-1) and had their 16-game winning streak snapped.
A big reason was the return of Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, who scored 22 points and was a +21 in only 21 minutes of action. The 2023 No. 1 overall pick had missed the previous 12 games with a left calf strain he suffered on Nov. 14.
This is the first of three meetings between these two franchises, as the next head-to-head matchup will come in the Lone Star State just over two weeks from now, when the Knicks travel to San Antonio to face the Spurs on New Year’s Eve.
The third and final regular-season contest will be a Sunday afternoon matinee at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2026, with the game being televised on ABC.
Here’s everything you need to know on how to watch, stream and our prediction on who will win this year’s NBA Cup between the Knicks and Spurs on Tuesday night:
What time is Knicks vs Spurs NBA Cup final today?
Date:Â Tuesday, Dec. 16
Time:Â 8:30 p.m.
Location: T-Mobile Arena
The Knicks-Spurs NBA Cup championship matchup begins at 8:30 p.m. from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
What channel is Knicks vs Spurs NBA Cup final today?
Streaming:Â Amazon Prime Video
The Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Cup final will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, which has an 11-year deal with the NBA.
Stream Knicks vs. Spurs live on Amazon Prime Video
Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Cup final betting odds
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Tuesday, Dec. 16:
Spread:Â Knicks by 2.5 points
Over/under:Â 228.5 points
Moneyline:Â Knicks (-135), Spurs (+110)
Knicks vs. Spurs NBA Cup final, prediction
A winning streak will come to an end here with everything on the line in the NBA Cup championship game as the Knicks have won five straight and the Spurs winners of three in a row.
Wembanyama has only played the Knicks three times so far in his young career but was dominant in two of those head-to-head meetings. The 7-foot-4 Frenchman dropped 40 points and 20 rebounds against the Knicks on March 9, 2024 and followed it up last season with 42 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks and four assists on Christmas Day but the Spurs came up short in a 117-114 loss to the Knicks at MSG.
This should be an exciting, back-and-forth contest in the desert, but with Webanyama likely playing more than the limited action he saw in the semifinals over the weekend (21 minutes), I’m giving San Antonio the slight advantage here as the Spurs win their first ever NBA Cup in the league’s third installment of the in-season tournament.
Webanyama will nearly put up a 40/20 performance again to earn tournament MVP honors, joining the likes of superstars in Lakers’ forward LeBron James and Bucks’ forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to win the award.
Spurs 119, Knicks 112