The NBA Cup Championship Game may not count toward the standings, but neither the New York Knicks nor the San Antonio Spurs believe the game is pointless.
While recent history shows that winning the NBA Cup does not guarantee playoff success, the mentality within both locker rooms suggested that Tuesday night represented something much more important than a trophy.
“You're not winning or getting any records, but you're going out to compete,” Jalen Brunson said, via Yahoo Sports. “You're not just playing for yourself. You're playing for your team, your organization and your city. There's a lot at stake besides the record. No matter what, you're going to go out and compete.”
The Spurs, on the other hand, embody the opposite philosophy.
“It's not going to be a huge step, but it's still an important step,” Wembanya said, via Yahoo Sports. “Because it's a high-stakes game, both teams are going to be very invested in winning. It just shows that we're preparing and we're going to take the next step in the playoffs and get to the bigger games.
“As competitors we want to win every game and this game brings something new, so we want to win even more.”
Knicks head coach Mike Brown emphasized what Brunson's leadership means to the roster built around him.
“Having a guy like Jalen as your leader,” Brown said, “he embraces the work, he embraces the process, and more importantly he embraces the details of what you need to do and win; with his size and athleticism, he doesn't have a lot of room or a lot of margin for error, so he embraces the little things. That's good for everybody else.”
Brown also acknowledged the challenge of containing Wimbanyama.
“You can't guard a guy like that one-on-one,” Brown said. “When it comes to him, you try to put length, size and physicality at the point of attack, but you have to always have five guys guarding the basketball.”
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