If you beat the team that beat the team, does that make you the team to beat?
The Knicks were about to find out. And then they blew it.
After all, the San Antonio Spurs have had the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder’s number. They’ve defeated the 2025 NBA champs not one, not two, but three times this season, including a 20-point victory on Dec. 23 and a 15-point stunner on Christmas Day.
And for long stretches of New York’s’ New Years Eve matchup in San Antonio on Wednesday, the Knicks were primed to unseat the West’s emerging contender for a second time in the first half of the season, the first coming in convincing fashion in the NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas.
But those Champagnies sure love sticking it to the Knicks. And nearly a year to the date his twin brother hung a career performance on the Knicks last December, Bishop Loughlin igh school product, and Spurs forward Julian Champagnie one-upped his younger bro to lead the Spurs to a 134-132 victory over the Knicks on Wednesday.
Champagnie set a new Spurs franchise record with 11 threes made against the Knicks on Wednesday. He finished with 36 points on 11-of-17 shooting from deep and steadied the Spurs as they mounted a late-game comeback with Victor Wembanyama on the bench due to injury. His brother, Justin Champagnie, scored 31 points on 5-of-6 shooting from deep in a Knicks matchup against the Washington Wizards on Dec. 28, 2024.
Wembanyama dominated with 31 points and 13 rebounds on 10-of-12 shooting from the field in just 24 minutes but landed awkwardly on a rebound and limped off the floor in the fourth quarter. The Spurs announced he sustained a knee injury, but Wemby returned to the sidelines to support his teammates. His absence, however, didn’t mean much for the Spurs, who outscored the Knicks, 41-30, in the final frame.
Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox finished with 26 points and seven assists but scored 13 of his points in the fourth quarter, and Keldon Johnson added 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field.
The Knicks, without Josh Hart (ankle), Mitchell Robinson (load management) and Landry Shamet (shoulder), started rookie Mohamed Diawara in place of Hart and got 55 points from their bench, including 20 points in 24 minutes from Jordan Clarkson and 21 points in 26 minutes from Miles McBrie in his second game back from a three-week absence with an ankle injury.
But they led by as many as 19 before coughing up the lead late. The Knicks lost their first game they led entering the fourth quarter this season. They were 19-0 before their stop in San Antonio.
Jalen Brunson finished with 29 points on 10-of-24 shooting from the field, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists but dealt with foul trouble and fouled out late in the fourth quarter. Mikal Bridges scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and missed a wide-open three that would have tied the game at 124 with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter. But he immediately forced a turnover then saved the ball in bounds to McBride, who made a toe-on-the-line two to bring the Knicks within one.
Next up, the Knicks return home to host the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
They have another month before they must play against another Champagnie when they face the Washington Wizards on Feb. 3
