Jalen Brunson scores 40 points as Knicks advance to NBA Cup Final with win vs. Magic

Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News on Dec 14, 2025

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This isn’t the banner the Knicks envisioned chasing this season — but after a 132-120 quarterfinal victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, the NBA Cup is within reach. And recent, limited history says competing for the in-season tournament banner gives you a head start in chasing the real thing later down the line.

In 2023, the first year of the Cup, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers to claim the league’s inaugural in-season trophy. The Pacers went on to make an Eastern Conference finals appearance the following spring, and came a Tyrese Haliburton Game 7 injury away from a Cinderella ending last season.

In the Cup’s second year, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder. That Thunder team responded by winning its first NBA championship later that same season, outlasting Indiana in the 2025 Finals.

Now it’s Year 3 of the league’s newest experiment — and the pattern is no longer coincidence.

After two straight quarterfinal exits, the Knicks are one of the final two teams standing in Las Vegas. They defeated the Toronto Raptors in the quarterfinal on Tuesday then punched their ticket to the NBA Cup Final agains the Magic on Saturday night.

And just like that, they’ve joined a short list of teams with a 50% chance of doing something much bigger next.

The New York Knicks are for real. They entered the season with championship aspirations, and a third of the way through the year, they’re finally beginning to look the part. And while an in-season tournament banner was never the target, competing for one has given the world a glimpse into the heights this team’s ceiling has pushed toward this year.

“I was one of those guys when they came up with the Cup idea, I was like, ‘Oh, man, for what? In the middle of the season? We are trying to do this and that and practice and blah, blah, blah,' ” head coach Mike Brown recalled after practice on Friday. “It’s a fantastic experience for everybody. You really applaud how the NBA has tried to continue to find ways to make this more meaningful across the board. So it’s a pleasure to be here.”

So the Knicks look the part. Jalen Brunson looks the part, too.

Brown has been vocal about wanting his All-Star point guard to finally receive MVP consideration. Performances like the one Brunson delivered Saturday make it impossible to have the conversation without him.

The Knicks’ captain dissected an Orlando defense specifically built to grind him down — a physical, switch-heavy unit designed to make every touch uncomfortable. Instead, Brunson made it look easy: 40 points on 16-of-27 shooting from the field and eight assists in New York’s highest-pressure game of the season.

“Yeah, [the Magic] are really physical. That’s what [Orlando’s head coach, Jamahl Mosley] prides himself on. The way that they have been able to do it makes them very successful,” Brunson told reporters after practice on Friday. “There’s a lot of ways you combat it. Obviously with physicality. But I would move it, with space and transition, getting stops and running. I think no matter what, they are going to play their solid basketball. We have to play ours and do it to the best of our abilities.”

Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 29 points and eight rebounds, and OG Anunoby added 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field, as the Knicks advanced to a 17-0 record in games they lead after three quarters.

Jalen Suggs scored 26 points for the Orlando Magic but left in the second half due to injury. Paolo Banchero scored 25 points, and Desmond Bane added 18, but the Magic couldn’t match New York’s firepower with both teams missing key contributors on the injury report. Miles McBride is nursing an ankle injury, and Landry Shamet is recovering from a shoulder sprain, while fringe All-Star Franz Wagner remains out with a high ankle sprain of his own.

Now it’s one more game in Las Vegas against the best of the West. The NBA Cup is beginning to be a true playoff preview, and the Knicks are living up to the early billing they can compete for their first title in decades this season.