The Magic leaned on an 11-man rotation in hopes of running the Knicks into the ground, a tactic that has worked against New York in the past. In theory, it should have worked again — especially with the Knicks missing two perimeter pieces in Miles McBride (ankle) and Landry Shamet (shoulder). Instead, the Knicks flipped the script.

By making it to the final, the Knicks and Spurs already have secured $212,373 per player from the NBA Cup prize money pool. The losing team on Tuesday gets nothing extra. Players on the winning team get an additional $308,560 — pushing their Cup winnings to $530,933 each. Two-way players get half of what players on standard contracts get.

The New York Knicks (18-7) have done a nice job of winning the games they are supposed to lately, and they did so again after earning a 132-120 NBA Cup Semifinals victory over the injury-hampered Orlando Magic (15-11) on Saturday.

After choking Coach PJ Carlesimo in 1997, Latrell Sprewell was in a difficult situation. The infamous incident saw the All-Star forward receiving a 68-game suspension. Despite the controversy, the New York Knicks still believed Sprewell would be a good acquisition.

If the Milwaukee Bucks end up in a situation where they have to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo, a new suitor from the Western Conference has emerged as a potential landing spot.

Both teams advanced to the in-season tournament’s championship game on Saturday with wins in Las Vegas. The Knicks put down the Orlando Magic behind a superb night from Jalen Brunson, then the Spurs took down the Oklahoma City Thunder in an instant classic.

Jalen Brunson had an astounding crossover move on Anthony Black in the Knicks' NBA Cup showdown against the Magic on Saturday night.