After downing the Toronto Raptors in blowout fashion on Tuesday night, the New York Knicks have officially punched their ticket to Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal matchup against the Magic.
The ball club has clearly been on a tear during these early stages of the 2025-26 campaign, but, since the tournament's knockout format has come into effect, they've seemingly brought their play up to a whole new level.
This very well could be due to the established familiarity that team leaders Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart have with playing in such a tournament structure. Quite frankly, this alone is an edge that no other team still alive in the in-season competition seems to possess.
Nova Knicks have edge in NBA Cup thanks to NCAA Tournament success
Though Donte DiVincenzo may be in the midst of his second season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Nova Knicks remain largely intact with Brunson, Bridges, and Hart still in tow.
This trio played college ball together at Villanova University and wound up running through the single-elimination environment of the NCAA Tournament back in 2016 to take home the Wildcats' second NABC Championship Trophy.
Two years later, after Hart had already entered the NBA as the 30 pick in the 2017 draft, Brunson and Bridges managed to claim the University's third-ever NCAA Championship.
Now, all are together again serving as three of the most important contributors on this second-seeded Knicks team.
Needless to say, given that they're back in this same kind of high-stakes, win-and-you're-in tournament environment, their past track record of succeeding in such formats should be seen as a major advantage for New York as they aim to claim their first-ever NBA Cup win.
Of course, outside of this trio, as a whole, the Knicks are heading to Las Vegas as one of the hottest teams in the entire league.
Through 24 games played, they find themselves sporting the sixth-best record in the NBA (17-7) while ranking fifth in points (120.5) and three-point percentage (37.8), fourth in point differential (+8.6), and third in offensive rating (121.8).
With the likes of OG Anunoby back following a multi-week, injury-induced absence, they will be able to storm into Saturday's semifinal with their preferred starting five of him, Brunson, Josh Hart, Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns, which ranks in the 98 percentile in points per 100 possessions (129.8), the 99 percentile in effective field goal percentage (62.1), and the 100 percentile in point differential (+29.8).
Even without their ample experience running through single-elimination play, this Knicks squad would likely still be seen as a favorite to take home the prestigious cup. With it, however, there's a case to be made that they are the favorites to do so.