Mike Brown believes his New York Knicks side are “starting to figure out” their identity as they reached the semi-finals of the NBA Cup.

The Knicks defeated the Toronto Raptors 117-101 at Scotiabank Arena to reach the final four of the cup, where they will face the Orlando Magic.

Jalen Brunson led the way for the Knicks with a 35-point performance, while Karl-Anthony Towns also contributed with 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Josh Hart (21), Mikal Bridges (15), OG Anunoby (13) and Jordan Clarkson (12) all reached double-figures in points as the Knicks recorded their eighth win in nine games.

ladies and gentlemen, jalen brunson. pic.twitter.com/Cv2xUnG0AB

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 10, 2025

Their first-half display proved to make the difference, scoring 34 points in the first quarter before restricting the Raptors to just 13 in the second.

Brown feels the Knicks are heading in the right direction, especially after they started the season 3-6 on the road.

“We're starting to figure out who we are,” said Brown.

“Early in the season, we had a lot of injuries during the preseason, so I didn't have a good feel for this team, or as good a feel as I needed to have, and that's part of the reason why we [have struggled] on the road.

“I know this sounds crazy, but we still have a lot of room to grow on both sides of the floor. We can be an extremely high-level defensive team.”

The Knicks have already faced the Magic three times this season ahead of the NBA Cup semi-finals, with Orlando taking the first two meetings before New York won 106-100 on December 7.

The Magic’s Desmond Bane was fined $35,000 in that last matchup after throwing the ball at Anunoby from a close distance, which was deemed as a “hostile act”.