Has NBA Cup Win Made Knicks Sloppy?

The New York Knicks hoisted the NBA Cup trophy on December 16, and something broke. They're 7-9 since that victory over the Spurs, watching their championship credentials evaporate in real time. The numbers don't lie, and neither does the film.

Before winning the Cup, the Knicks were rolling with an offensive rating of 122.0, second-best in the NBA. Their defense sat at 113.3, good for 11th, and they carried a plus-8.6 net rating that ranked fourth league-wide. They won 18 of their first 25 games, looking every bit the contender everyone expected.

After lifting that trophy in Vegas? The offense has cratered to 116.4, dropping to eighth. The defense has collapsed to 120.6, ranking 29th in the league. Their net rating sits at minus-4.2, 24th overall, and they've managed just seven wins in 16 games.

The curse that's haunted previous NBA Cup winners appears to have found New York. The 2023 Lakers won the tournament, then flamed out in the first round against Denver. The 2024 Bucks beat Oklahoma City for the Cup, only to suffer the same fate against Indiana. The question was raised immediately after the Knicks' victory, wondering if history would repeat itself. But this isn't just about playoff fate. The Knicks are falling apart right now, and the reasons go deeper than any curse.

Defense Has Become a Disaster

Jan 14, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings center Dylan Cardwell (32) drives to the basket against New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The most glaring issue is defensive effort. Over their last nine games, the Knicks have posted a 121.7 defensive rating, second-worst in the entire league. Against the Warriors on January 16, they allowed 134 points per 100 possessions while getting torched for 20 threes on 45 attempts. Golden State shot 44.4% from deep because New York was consistently late on rotations and soft in one-on-one coverage.

The Knicks couldn't keep up with Golden State's motion offense, constantly arriving late to help and getting lost on basic pick-and-roll actions. Josh Hart allowed 44% of contested shots to fall, the lowest among starters. OG Anunoby watched opponents shoot 9-for-13 on his watch, while 10 of 11 attempts Mikal Bridges contested went in.

Mike Brown has tried addressing it directly. After a brutal loss to his former team, Sacramento, Brown called out Karl-Anthony Towns for a play that "sums up what our night was". Towns got stripped, fell down, then backpedaled instead of sprinting back on defense. The Kings hit an open three on the resulting possession.

"When you fall down, you got to get up and got to sprint down the floor," Brown told reporters. "But there was no urgency. That wasn't the only play. There were a handful of plays that we did that."

Team Chemistry and Effort Concerns

Jan 14, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) walks off the court after the game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The lack of urgency Brown mentioned has exposed cracks in team cohesion. Jalen Brunson tried addressing it after their fourth straight loss, a 121-90 blowout to Detroit. "We just gotta respond. A lot more needs to be said. We keep it internal," he stated. "If we want to be the team we say we want to be, we have to be better, simple as that".

That "keeping it internal" comment suggests frustration brewing beneath the surface. Players aren't publicly calling each other out, but the body language tells a different story. Towns leads the league with 30 offensive fouls this season, six more than anyone else. He's shooting a career-low 33.8% on wide-open threes in Brown's system. The pattern forced Brown to bench him late in Portland despite a solid 20-point, 11-rebound performance.

After the Sacramento loss, Towns acknowledged, "We didn't do enough to win, and they took advantage of our lackadaisicalness, you could say". Brown has tried to shoulder blame alongside his star, saying, "I've got to continue to find ways to make it easier for him and put him in position to have success". But when players aren't backing each other up on rotations or communicating on switches, coaching adjustments only go so far

The schedule offers no excuses either. The Knicks entered January with one of the league's easier stretches, facing just one game against a top-10 offense. Yet they've still dropped six of eight to start 2026. When you're losing games you should win against lesser competition, that's not about matchups. That's about mentality and togetherness.

The Knicks sit at 25-16, still third in the East but sliding fast. Championship teams find their edge in moments like these. New York needs to find theirs before that NBA Cup trophy becomes a reminder of what could've been. The Lakers and Bucks both won the Cup, then flamed out early in the playoffs. History doesn't have to repeat itself, but the Knicks need to snap out of this funk now. The gap between expectations and reality grows wider each night.

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