The Knicks’ new schedule gives San Antonio an early shot at something it has been waiting on for a while: payback.
Christmas Day at noon brings the Spurs to New York, and that matchup comes with more baggage than your average holiday tipoff. The Knicks beat the Spurs in the 2025 NBA Cup and then again in the 2026 NBA Finals, so there’s no shortage of motivation on the Texas side. Victor Wembanyama has one more season of seasoning now, too, and if he’s carrying any leftover frustration into the new year, the NBA just handed him a stage for it.
Wembanyama’s history against the Knicks has already produced plenty of noise. He is 2-3 against New York in the regular season, and those games have ranged from quiet to explosive. His first meeting with the Knicks came in November 2023 at Madison Square Garden, where he missed his first seven shots and finished with 14 points on 4-14 shooting.
The next one was a different story entirely. In March 2024, Wembanyama erupted for 40 points and 20 rebounds while out-dueling Jalen Brunson.
Brunson still went for 61 that night, but he didn’t leave with the game ball. Wembanyama threw it into the stands in San Antonio after the buzzer, a move that earned him a $25,000 fine from the league and clearly didn’t help his standing with Brunson.
Christmas Day 2024 brought another heavyweight clash. Wembanyama posted 42 points, 18 rebounds and 4 assists, but Mikal Bridges answered with 41 of his own as the Knicks won by three. That one flipped the script from the earlier Brunson explosion and kept the holiday rivalry alive.
The teams met again in the NBA Cup Championship, a game that didn’t count in the standings but absolutely counted in the room. The Knicks won the title and the prize money that came with it.
San Antonio got some measure of revenge soon after, beating New York 134-132 on New Year’s Eve. The Knicks were missing Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet, while the Spurs were without Devin Vassell. Wembanyama finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds in that one.
Their final meeting before the 2026 NBA Finals came in March 2026, with San Antonio rolling in on an 11-game winning streak and New York missing Miles McBride. The Knicks took that game 114-89, and the Spurs finished their regular season 19-3 after that.
Now the Spurs have another chance to settle things, and they’ll have to wait until March to host New York. That makes the Christmas trip their first crack at the Knicks in 2026-27, unless the schedule gives both teams another postseason-sized collision in the 2026 NBA Cup.
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