LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 16: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks drives against Julian Champagnie #30 of the San Antonio Spurs in the second quarter of the championship game of the Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Knicks defeated the Spurs 124-113. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 16: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks drives against Julian Champagnie #30 of the San Antonio Spurs in the second quarter of the championship game of the Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Knicks defeated the Spurs 124-113. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The Knicks won the NBA Cup final on Tuesday as they outlasted the Spurs for the win, a victory that the team celebrated and hopes will be a springboard into the next chunk of the season. The game does not count in the standings, but it does count on the wear and tear the players accumulate here in the early season, and one of their rewards for it starts on Thursday in Indiana–a back-to-back against the Pacers on the road followed by the Sixers back home in New York.
Some players worked their way through the Cup semis and final despite not being 100%, health-wise, and that figures to take its toll as the Knicks now play thee games in four days, including their game against the Heat on Sunday. The Cup win was nice, and the $530K will certainly make the effort worthwhile. But the schedule did not take a pause once the tournament was over.
The Knicks’ injury report heading into Thursday was a rough one: four players are listed as questionable and two more are out.
Knicks Have 6 Players on Injury Report
The two players who are out for the Knicks–Miles McBride and Landry Shamet–are not a surprise. Both have been out, with McBride likely to come back soon from an ankle injury and Shamet probably still a week away from being re-evaluated for the shoulder injury he suffered in November.
But four of the Knicks’ top six rotation players are questionable against Indiana. Karl-Anthony Towns has soreness in his knee, Josh Hart has a strained abdominal and OG Anunoby has a minor knee injury, too. Mitchell Robinson will be out for load management.
The one positive for the Knicks is that, with Tyrese Haliburton out and Myles Turner now in Milwaukee, this version of the Pacers little resembles the group the Knicks faced in the playoffs last year. They’re 6-20 and have lost two straight games.
Knicks Hoping to Use Cup Momentum
It’s a small sample size, but the Knicks’ challenge will be to change some recent history around the Cup. Its past winners have not gone on to bigger and better things. The Lakers won the Cup in 2023 and wound up earning a playoff spot, only to be bounced in five games by Denver before firing coach Darvin Ham. The Bucks won last year, made the playoffs, lost Damian Lillard to a torn Achilles tendon, then fell in five games to the Pacers in the first round.
Coach Mike Brown said he does think the pressure of playing in the tournament can be beneficial to the team–throughout the season, he tries to put the team in pressure situations by dividing the schedule into five-game segments.
Explained Brown: “I do that to try to put pressure on them, let them know where we went during those five games. To manufacture it during the regular season is tough because you have so many games. You have to give Adam a lot of credit, the NBA league office, to create an environment like this. It helps us coaches add pressure to your group early in the season.”
Mike Brown
GettyMike Brown, Knicks
‘It Breeds Confidence in Everybody’
Of course, there are differences with the Cup. And the Knicks still need to get back to the everyday grind of the season. But Brown is happy that his team has now been through some tests, and passed.
“This is a single-elimination tournament when you get to a certain point. Every game counts. There’s pressure on every game if you expect to be who you think you are,” Brown said.
“That pressure is manufactured without you as a coach having to try to do it all the time. When you’re able to have success doing it, it breeds confidence in everybody within the organization. That can propel you come the right time when you’re in that environment to be able to handle the pressure because you’ve already been through it.”