The 2025–26 New York Knicks season was the 80th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). On June 3, 2025, the Knicks dismissed head coach Tom Thibodeau after five seasons with the team. On July 7, the Knicks hired Mike Brown as their head coach. The Knicks won the NBA Championship during this season, for the first time since 1973. It was their third title in franchise history, and their first in which their Finals opponent was not the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the 2025 NBA Cup, the Knicks won East Group C with a 3–1 group stage record to advance to the knockout stage for the third straight year, also doing so as a group winner for the second straight year, by clinching the tiebreaker over the Miami Heat via their head-to-head victory on November 14. In the knockout stage, they defeated the Toronto Raptors in the quarterfinals, the Orlando Magic in the semifinals, and finally the San Antonio Spurs in the championship round, winning the Cup title. The Knicks finished the tournament with a 6–1 record, becoming the first Cup champions to win the tournament title without a perfect record.
In a span from December 31 to January 19, the Knicks had a 2–9 stretch that featured two separate four-game losing streaks, their longest since the 2023–24 season. Following a loss to the Dallas Mavericks, the Knicks closed out the month with a five-game winning streak, which included a 120–66 victory over their rival, the Brooklyn Nets, which also broke a franchise record for the largest victory margin in a regular season game.
On March 30, the Knicks clinched the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season following a Philadelphia 76ers loss to the Miami Heat. On April 9, the Knicks improved over their 51–31 record from the previous season with a win over the Boston Celtics. They finished the regular season with a 53–29 record, placing third in the East.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks defeated the Atlanta Hawks in six games, advancing to the conference semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. The series concluded with a record-breaking game where the Knicks set an NBA playoff record for the largest halftime lead (47 points) and a franchise record for the largest playoff margin of victory (51 points). They would later sweep the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semifinals and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals (New York's second straight appearance) to clinch their first NBA Finals berth since 1999.
The Knicks faced the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals, which was a rematch of the 1999 Finals and this season's NBA Cup championship game. The Knicks had also won a franchise-record 13 straight playoff games, which stands as the second-longest single-postseason winning streak in NBA history behind only the 2016–17 Golden State Warriors, spanning from a first-round game 4 victory following a 2–1 deficit against the Hawks to a game 3 Finals loss to the Spurs. In game 4 of the Finals, New York achieved the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, in which they overcame a 29-point deficit to beat San Antonio 107–106. The Knicks defeated the Spurs in five games in the NBA Finals to win their first championship since 1973. They also became the first team to win the NBA Cup, win a playoff series, make the Finals, and win the NBA championship in the same season.
Draft
RoundPickPlayerPosition(s)NationalityCollege / club 2 50 Kobe Sanders SG/SF United States Nevada
The Knicks entered the draft with a single second-round pick, which originally belonged to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Knicks acquired the selection from the Oklahoma City Thunder via a 2024 trade; it conveyed as a more favorable pick because Memphis finished with a worse record in the 2024–25 season than the Boston Celtics, the pick's first trade destination before such condition was added. The team had originally held another second-round selection, but it was forfeited due to tampering violations related to the free agency signing of Jalen Brunson in 2022, following three consecutive drafts that each featured only 58 total picks due to various teams—including the Knicks in prior years—being penalized for free agency violations. They had also traded their original 2025 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets in 2024 as an exchange for Mikal Bridges.
With the 50th overall pick, the Knicks selected Kobe Sanders, but immediately traded his draft rights to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to the 51st pick, Mohamed Diawara, and to Luka Mitrović.
Roster
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Standings
Division
Conference
Game log
Preseason
| 1 | October 2 | Philadelphia | | Miles McBride (12) | Mitchell Robinson (16) | Jalen Brunson (4) | Etihad Arena 11,983 | 1–0 |- | 2 | October 4 | @ Philadelphia | | Jalen Brunson (14) | Mitchell Robinson (8) | Tosan Evbuomwan (3) | Etihad Arena | 2–0 |- | 3 | October 9 | Minnesota | | Mikal Bridges (15) | Karl-Anthony Towns (11) | Brunson, Clarkson, Kolek (3) | Madison Square Garden18,344 | 3–0 |- | 4 | October 13 | Washington | | Tyler Kolek (20) | Pacôme Dadiet (6) | Tyler Kolek (6) | Madison Square Garden19,241 | 3–1 |- | 5 | October 17 | Charlotte | | Jalen Brunson (31) | Bridges, Brunson, Diawara, Jemison III (7) | Jalen Brunson (6) | Madison Square Garden19,270 | 4–1
Regular season
| 1 | October 22 | Cleveland | | OG Anunoby (24) | OG Anunoby (14) | Mikal Bridges (6) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 1–0 |- | 2 | October 24 | Boston | | Jalen Brunson (31) | Josh Hart (14) | Jalen Brunson (5) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 2–0 |- | 3 | October 26 | @ Miami | | Jalen Brunson (37) | Karl-Anthony Towns (18) | Jalen Brunson (6) | Kaseya Center19,600 | 2–1 |- | 4 | October 28 | @ Milwaukee | | Jalen Brunson (36) | Karl-Anthony Towns (12) | Mikal Bridges (6) | Fiserv Forum16,309 | 2–2 |- | 5 | October 31 | @ Chicago | | Jalen Brunson (29) | Mitchell Robinson (11) | Jalen Brunson (7) | United Center18,330 | 2–3
| 6 | November 2 | Chicago | | Jalen Brunson (31) | Karl-Anthony Towns (15) | Mikal Bridges (9) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 3–3 |- | 7 | November 3 | Washington | | Karl-Anthony Towns (33) | Karl-Anthony Towns (13) | Jalen Brunson (9) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 4–3 |- | 8 | November 5 | Minnesota | | OG Anunoby (25) | Robinson, Towns (10) | Jalen Brunson (10) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 5–3 |- | 9 | November 9 | Brooklyn | | Karl-Anthony Towns (28) | Karl-Anthony Towns (12) | Jalen Brunson (7) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 6–3 |- | 10 | November 11 | Memphis | | Jalen Brunson (32) | Karl-Anthony Towns (13) | Jalen Brunson (10) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 7–3 |- | 11 | November 12 | Orlando | | Jalen Brunson (31) | Karl-Anthony Towns (12) | Jalen Brunson (6) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 7–4 |- | 12 | November 14 | Miami | | Karl-Anthony Towns (39) | Josh Hart (12) | Josh Hart (10) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 8–4 |- | 13 | November 17 | @ Miami | | Miles McBride (25) | Karl-Anthony Towns (15) | Josh Hart (9) | Kaseya Center19,600 | 8–5 |- | 14 | November 19 | @ Dallas | | Jalen Brunson (28) | Karl-Anthony Towns (14) | Bridges, Towns (6) | American Airlines Center18,513 | 9–5 |- | 15 | November 22 | @ Orlando | | Jalen Brunson (33) | Karl-Anthony Towns (8) | Jalen Brunson (11) | Kia Center18,014 | 9–6 |- | 16 | November 24 | @ Brooklyn | | Karl-Anthony Towns (37) | Hart, Towns (12) | Josh Hart (7) | Barclays Center18,019 | 10–6 |- | 17 | November 26 | @ Charlotte | | Jalen Brunson (33) | Karl-Anthony Towns (10) | Josh Hart (7) | Spectrum Center19,588 | 11–6 |- | 18 | November 28 | Milwaukee | | Jalen Brunson (37) | Jalen Brunson (15) | Josh Hart (7) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 12–6 |- | 19 | November 30 | Toronto | | Karl-Anthony Towns (22) | Mitchell Robinson (15) | Brunson, Hart (7) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 13–6
| 20 | December 2 | @ Boston | | Mikal Bridges (35) | Hart, Towns (7) | Jalen Brunson (11) | TD Garden19,156 | 13–7 |- | 21 | December 3 | Charlotte | | Karl-Anthony Towns (35) | Karl-Anthony Towns (18) | Josh Hart (8) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 14–7 |- | 22 | December 5 | Utah | | Jalen Brunson (33) | Karl-Anthony Towns (9) | Josh Hart (6) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 15–7 |- | 23 | December 7 | Orlando | | Jalen Brunson (30) | Mitchell Robinson (13) | Jalen Brunson (9) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 16–7 |- | 24 | December 9 | @ Toronto | | Jalen Brunson (35) | Karl-Anthony Towns (16) | (4) | Scotiabank Arena17,801 | 17–7 |- | 25 | December 13 | @ Orlando(in Las Vegas) | | Jalen Brunson (40) | Mitchell Robinson (9) | Jalen Brunson (8) | T-Mobile Arena16,697 | 18–7 |- | Cup | December 16 | San Antonio(in Las Vegas) | | OG Anunoby (28) | Mitchell Robinson (15) | Jalen Brunson (8) | T-Mobile Arena18,609 | – |- | 26 | December 18 | @ Indiana | | Jalen Brunson (25) | Mikal Bridges (8) | Tyler Kolek (11) | Gainbridge Fieldhouse15,660 | 19–7 |- | 27 | December 19 | Philadelphia | | Brunson, Towns (22) | Mitchell Robinson (16) | Jalen Brunson (9) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 19–8 |- | 28 | December 21 | Miami | | Jalen Brunson (47) | Josh Hart (10) | Jalen Brunson (8) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 20–8 |- | 29 | December 23 | @ Minnesota | | Karl-Anthony Towns (40) | Josh Hart (15) | Hart, Kolek (8) | Target Center18,978 | 20–9 |- | 30 | December 25 | Cleveland | | Jalen Brunson (34) | Karl-Anthony Towns (14) | Tyler Kolek (9) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 21–9 |- | 31 | December 27 | @ Atlanta | | Karl-Anthony Towns (36) | Karl-Anthony Towns (16) | Mikal Bridges (8) | State Farm Arena17,809 | 22–9 |- | 32 | December 29 | @ New Orleans | | Jalen Brunson (28) | Karl-Anthony Towns (12) | Bridges, Brunson (10) | Smoothie King Center17,041 | 23–9 |- | 33 | December 31 | @ San Antonio | | Jalen Brunson (29) | Karl-Anthony Towns (7) | Jalen Brunson (8) | Frost Bank Center18,602 | 23–10
| 34 | January 2 | Atlanta | | Jalen Brunson (24) | Ariel Hukporti (16) | Kevin McCullar Jr. (6) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 23–11 |- | 35 | January 3 | Philadelphia | | Jalen Brunson (31) | Karl-Anthony Towns (14) | Anunoby, Bridges (6) | Madison Square Garden19,390 | 23–12 |- | 36 | January 5 | @ Detroit | | Jalen Brunson (25) | Mitchell Robinson (10) | Kevin McCullar Jr. (3) | Little Caesars Arena20,032 | 23–13 |- | 37 | January 7 | L.A. Clippers | | Jalen Brunson (26) | Karl-Anthony Towns (11) | Brunson, Towns (7) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 24–13 |- | 38 | January 9 | @ Phoenix | | Jalen Brunson (27) | Mitchell Robinson (14) | Brunson, Towns (5) | Mortgage Matchup Center17,071 | 24–14 |- | 39 | January 11 | @ Portland | | Jalen Brunson (26) | Robinson, Towns (11) | Jalen Brunson (8) | Moda Center17,867 | 25–14 |- | 40 | January 14 | @ Sacramento | | Mikal Bridges (19) | Mitchell Robinson (11) | Miles McBride (6) | Golden 1 Center15,095 | 25–15 |- | 41 | January 15 | @ Golden State | | Anunoby, McBride (25) | Karl-Anthony Towns (20) | Josh Hart (10) | Chase Center18,064 | 25–16 |- | 42 | January 17 | Phoenix | | McBride, Towns (23) | Karl-Anthony Towns (11) | Anunoby, McBride (5) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 25–17 |- | 43 | January 19 | Dallas | | Brunson, Towns (22) | Karl-Anthony Towns (18) | Jalen Brunson (6) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 25–18 |- | 44 | January 21 | Brooklyn | | Jalen Brunson (20) | Josh Hart (9) | Jalen Brunson (5) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 26–18 |- | 45 | January 24 | @ Philadelphia | | Jalen Brunson (31) | Josh Hart (13) | Josh Hart (7) | Xfinity Mobile Arena19,746 | 27–18 |- | 46 | January 27 | Sacramento | | Jalen Brunson (28) | Mitchell Robinson (13) | Mikal Bridges (5) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 28–18 |- | 47 | January 28 | @ Toronto | | Mikal Bridges (30) | Karl-Anthony Towns (22) | Tyler Kolek (10) | Scotiabank Arena19,511 | 29–18 |- | 48 | January 30 | Portland | | Jalen Brunson (26) | Karl-Anthony Towns (20) | Bridges, Hart (5) | Madison Square Garden19,812 | 30–18
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