Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns celebrate during the Knicks' 117-101 road win over the Raptors in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on Dec. 9, 2025. Getty Images

Sure, if you want, make light of all of this. Make fun of the NBA Cup, this three-year-old Adam Silver invention that tries to add a little spice to early season games while also adding a few extra dollars to the players’ pockets.

(Lord knows you can go to town talking about the floor designs for these Cup games; it looked as if the Knicks and Raptors played 48 minutes through blood spatter Tuesday night at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.)

The player has yet to be born who has spent even one minute in his driveway counting down the clock, dribbling by himself, yelling (in his best Mike Breen voice), “3 … 2 … 1 … and the shot

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