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It’s here!
The NBA Finals are back at the Mecca as the hometown Knicks take a magical 13-0 playoff run to MSG Monday night for the first championship game on home turf in 27 years — and it has fans in a frenzy.
“Honestly, I haven’t been sleeping,” superfan Franco Augustin said as he soaked in the vibes outside Madison Square Garden this weekend. “This, like, never happens. I’ve been thinking about the Knicks all day.
“I had myself a hot dog, and I’ll get myself a slice before heading back home,” he said. “It’s almost like a ritual, right? You come in and you hope that some of that good energy that you have kind of bounces forth. I know it sounds weird, right? But anything that helps a team.”
The Knicks are due to tip-off at 8:30 p.m. with a commanding 2-0 lead and a chance to knock off the San Antonio Spurs in the best-of-seven series for their first NBA title since 1973.
For fans — diehard and bandwagon alike — the Big Apple is buzzing with anticipation.
“I feel optimistic, more than I thought I would feel going in,” said Anthony Almonte, a Westchester County clinical data analyst who lugged his family to the Garden for a pre-game visit. “New Yorkers, especially Knicks fans, are inherently pessimistic. We’ve gone through so much heartache that it’s hard for us to just assume, even though they’ve gone on a historical run.
“We’re also very superstitious, so we don’t like jinxing,” he added.
Tickets prices for the two finals games at MSG are astronomical, but it hasn’t stopped fans from catching the action throughout the New York Metropolitan Area.
The NYPD and US Secret Service shut down the popular watch party outside the arena amid amped up security for President Trump’s planned appearance at Game 3, but New Yorkers have plenty of chances to root from afar with scheduled watch parties at Woman Rink at Central Park and the Brooklyn Bowl.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced another outdoor party at Bryant Park.
Meanwhile, streets around the Garden will be in a virtual lockdown for the Monday night game, with fans holding tickets advised to arrive at least two hours early for airport-style security screenings.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters at a press briefing Monday morning that the MSG outdoor gatherings will resume for Game 4.
For fans, the games can’t come soon enough as hoops fever invades the five boroughs.
“Let me tell you one thing, ever since the Knicks went to the playoffs — not even the playoffs, ever since the Knicks made the finals — the crime rate went down 78%,” claimed 19-year-old college student Jaiden J., who took some liberty with crime stats.
And while some longtime fans turn a cold shoulder to newly anointed bandwagon fans, most of the long-suffering faithful maintain there’s room for everyone under the Knick tent.
“I can’t blame them,” Almonte said. “It’s just a time to be happy for the team, for the city. When people see me wearing this [team jersey]. they’ll say, ‘Let’s go Knicks!'”
English (US)