The 2025-26 NBA season is the third to feature the NBA Cup, the league's new midseason tournament. The odds that the Knicks take home a trophy in Las Vegas hinge on whether or not they can defeat the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. Some fans have doubted whether the Cup's higher stakes actually create a better product. Head coach Mike Brown made his stance on the event clear after a team practice, telling reporters that his team's competitive nature will result in them treating Cup games like early playoff reps.
Cup quarterfinals will be first playoff-level test for Mike Brown
The Knicks' decision to make a change at head coach was controversial, with Tom Thibodeau just having completed a season in that role that culminated in the franchise's first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000. However, early returns on Brown have been positive. New York's offense is improved, the play of starters like Mikal Bridges is proving to be worth the sacrifice of having them play fewer minutes per game, and the vibes in the locker room seem generally high.
Brown told reporters in Tarrytown that his players are competitors. It's what drove them to the NBA and, according to the head coach, is a requirement to be a Knick.
“One of our standards is having a competitive spirit. So all of our guys, especially as you go along and advance, you should embrace any pressure that comes with it, because that’s what you do," Brown shared.
Brown also spoke to the playoff-level of intensity that Cup games can have, if teams take them seriously. He explained why his group has no plans of letting this opportunity slip through their fingers.
"It also helps prepare you for times down the road when you are put in the same situation. During the regular season, this is probably as close as you can get to simulating a playoff run," Brown declared. "And so we try to talk about it and add pressure to it so our guys will embrace it and handle it the right way and go get it."
Only Toronto stands between NY and Vegas
The Knicks play the Raptors on Tuesday night for a spot in the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas. New York has not yet earned that trip since the Cup's inception in the 2023-24 season. They were on the wrong end of a viral moment when Trae Young rolled dice on the Knicks' center-court logo after leading his Atlanta Hawks to a Vegas-clinching victory.
This year, the team will once again face some old friends. As opposed to an ex-MSG villain in Young, they'll travel up north to compete against the team they sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to as a means of acquiring star wing OG Anunoby.
However, Barrett is already out for the tilt after a plasma treatment on his knee and Quickley has been designated as "questionable" because of an illness. If neither of the two former Knicks can go on Tuesday, New York's path to Las Vegas might as well be lit with neon signs.