Knicks reverse course and hang an NBA Cup banner at the Garden before raising their title banner

The Knicks are getting two banners on opening night instead of one.

Before raising their championship banner ahead of Tuesday's season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers, New York hung a banner at Madison Square Garden for the NBA Cup it won last season.

A change of heart

The move is a reversal. Last December the Knicks became the first team to win the in-season tournament and then choose not to mark it with a banner. At the time the team said it was focused on bigger goals.

Those bigger goals came true. New York beat the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals to win its first championship since 1973. The Knicks had also beaten the Spurs in the NBA Cup final.

The NBA Cup banner went up sometime after the 76ers finished their morning shootaround at the arena.

Brown on the journey

Coach Mike Brown said he had not seen the new banner yet. He called it "just a recognition of what our journey was like last year" and said it was meant for the fans as much as the players.

"There were a lot of, obviously, ups and downs throughout the course of the year," Brown said, "and our guys rallied and figured out a way to win the NBA Cup."

It is the first banner the Knicks have hung at the Garden since they won the Atlantic Division title in the 2012-13 season.

The title banner goes up next, before New York opens its title defense against a Sixers team featuring the debuts of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown.