Camille Naredo

Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs brings the ball up the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second quarter of a semifinal game of the Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena on December 13, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller, Getty Images/AFP

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 13: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs brings the ball up the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second quarter of a semifinal game of the Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena on December 13, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Spurs defeated the Thunder 111-109. 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.   Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Ethan Miller / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

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San Antonio Spurs v Oklahoma City Thunder : Emirates NBA Cup - Semifinals

Agence France-Presse

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1765861069964AFP__20251214__2251805947__v2__MidRes__SanAntonioSpursVOklahomaCityThunderEmiratesNb.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs brings the ball up the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second quarter of a semifinal game of the Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena on December 13, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller, Getty Images/AFP" width="960"/>Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs brings the ball up the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second quarter of a semifinal game of the Emirates NBA Cup at T-Mobile Arena on December 13, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller, Getty Images/AFP</div>LAS VEGAS -- The New York Knicks will attempt to find a way past the imposing 7ft 4in (2.23m) frame of San Antonio Spurs prodigy Victor Wembanyama on Tuesday as they bid to end their 52-year trophy drought in the NBA Cup final in Las Vegas.The Knicks head into Tuesday&#x27;s final at the T-Mobile Center brimming with confidence after polishing off Eastern Conference top seeds Orlando with ease in Saturday&#x27;s semi-finals.That win has left the New York franchise within touching distance of a first piece of silverware since the team&#x27;s 1973 NBA Finals victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2025/12/14/nba-wemby-shines-on-comeback-as-spurs-stun-thunder-knicks-down-magic-1506">READ: Wemby shines on comeback as Spurs stun Thunder, Knicks down Magic</a></div>Blocking their path, though, is the fit-again Wembanyama, the 21-year-old French giant who was instrumental in helping San Antonio upset the in-form Oklahoma City Thunder in Saturday&#x27;s Western Conference semi-final.Wembanyama played limited minutes in the defeat of Oklahoma City, appearing from the bench in the second quarter to haul San Antonio back into contention after they had trailed by 11 points at the end of the first quarter.Knicks talisman Jalen Brunson said New York would attempt to drag Wembanyama out of position defensively.&quot;You&#x27;ve got to find ways to pull him away from the basket, and you&#x27;ve got to obviously be smart,&quot; Brunson said of Wembanyama. &quot;You can&#x27;t just go in there and think no one is going to come and affect the shot.&quot;He&#x27;s great at what he does, and we&#x27;ve just got to be smart as a team, playing off two feet and reading where he is and just trying to get the best shot as possible.&quot;<div> </div><div>- Team effort -</div>Karl-Anthony Towns echoed Brunson&#x27;s assessment of Wembanyama.&quot;He&#x27;s (7-4), and he&#x27;s very talented,&quot; Towns said. &quot;For us, we&#x27;re going to have to do a good job of executing our defensive game plan and offensively, as well.&quot;Knicks coach Mike Brown said neutralising Wembanyama would require a team effort.&quot;You&#x27;re not going to be able to guard a guy like that one-on-one,&quot; Brown said. &quot;You try to put length, size, physicality at the point of attack when it comes to him, but it&#x27;s got to be five guys guarding the basketball at all times.&quot;We have some pretty good defenders with length, and hopefully they can try to make it as difficult as possible with him, knowing that they have help behind them.&quot;Wembanyama&#x27;s introduction from the bench on Saturday sent a surge of excitement rippling through the T-Mobile Arena crowd, who later showered the Frenchman with chants of &quot;M-V-P.&quot;Wembanyama, meanwhile, said San Antonio&#x27;s defeat of Oklahoma City augured well for the chances of the Spurs emerging as genuine rivals to the Thunder in the Western Conference.&quot;I think we&#x27;re not quite there yet, but it&#x27;s a good sign that people see that it&#x27;s possible,&quot; Wembanyama said. &quot;I don&#x27;t think anybody right now can claim to have a rivalry with them in the league. They&#x27;re in their own tier.&quot;But in the future if we can provide a stage this good and we reach that level, of course it would be great to have a rivalry because if you&#x27;re at the top and you have a rivalry, it means you&#x27;re in the best position to win titles.&quot;Wembanyama said while a San Antonio victory on Tuesday would &quot;not be super significant step&quot; it would still carry some significance.&quot;It&#x27;s a high-stakes game that both teams are going to be very invested in winning,&quot; Wembanyama said.&quot;It just shows that we are preparing and we will pass the next step for more significant games in the playoffs.&quot;

The Knicks head into Tuesday's final at the T-Mobile Center brimming with confidence after polishing off Eastern Conference top seeds Orlando with ease in Saturday's semi-finals.

The Knicks head into Tuesday's final at the T-Mobile Center brimming with confidence after polishing off Eastern Conference top seeds Orlando with ease in Saturday's semi-finals.

Wembanyama blocking Knicks path in NBA Cup final

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Wembanyama blocking Knicks path in NBA Cup final

Agence France-Presse

Published Dec 16, 2025 12:59 PM PHT

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