NYC’s Knicks Fans Get Ready for Pivotal Game 4 After Spurs Upset

Madison Square Garden during Game Three of the 2026 NBA Finals in New York on June 8. Photographer: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images Photo by Dustin Satloff /Photographer: Dustin Satloff/Get

Article content

(Bloomberg) — Jack Brown would make more money — maybe a lot more — if his beloved New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs stretch this year’s NBA Finals to seven games. He’s hoping it doesn’t go that far.

Article content

The 53-year-old lifelong fan of the team was selling Knicks t-shirts on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan on Wednesday, but said he doesn’t want the best-of-seven series to go the distance, even if it means fewer sales. He wants the team to clinch its first title in 53 years as quickly as it can.

Article content

Article content

Article content

“Everybody that’s selling shirts, they want it to go seven games,” he said. “Not me. I’d rather them close it out.”

Article content

Article content

After their 13-game postseason winning streak came to a deflating end Monday night with a 115-111 loss to the Spurs at Madison Square Garden, the Knicks will seek to regroup and claim a 3-1 series lead in Game 4 on Wednesday night. From there, the series will move on to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday. A sixth game, if needed, would take place in New York on Tuesday, June 16. 

Article content

Ticket prices for Game 4 fell after New York lost on Monday, since it meant the Knicks would no longer be in position for a title-clinching sweep. As of Wednesday afternoon, the cheapest ticket for Game 4 was about $3,500, according to ticket marketplace TickPick, with an average purchase price of roughly $6,100. 

Article content

Meanwhile, Game 6 ticket prices have skyrocketed as diehard fans are hoping to witness the Knicks raise the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy on home court. The cheapest available ticket was more than $9,300, according to TickPick.

Article content

The Knicks’ scorching run through the playoffs and its first appearance in the Finals in 27 years has pulled New Yorkers together, stoking spontaneous watch parties at bars and on sidewalks around the city. Governor Kathy Hochul ordered that New York landmarks, including One World Trade Center and Grand Central Terminal, be lit in the team’s signature orange and blue for Game 3, the first Finals to be played at Madison Square Garden since 1999.  

Article content

Article content

Anthony Ortiz, 24, a native of Staten Island, said he had never felt so much camaraderie in the city. People wearing Knicks gear were high-fiving each other on the streets of Manhattan before the start of Wednesday’s game. 

Article content

“You looked around and you saw a lot of blue and orange,” Ortiz said. “It’s given the city hope. We’ve been starving for something.”

Article content

Moments of pure collective exuberance can be hard to come by in New York. Often when the city comes together, it does so in the shadow of tragedy, as in the days after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, or during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Article content

Still, for all the unity on the streets, the Knicks are also generating their share of old-fashioned New York tension. 

Article content

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., the company controlled by Knicks owner James Dolan, accused New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch of using President Donald Trump’s attendance of Game 3 as cover to kill fan celebrations they claim to support.

Article content

The New York City Police Department imposed a security perimeter around the Garden on Monday, telling the public it was necessary because of Trump’s attendance. The department plans to keep the same frozen zone in place for Game 4, even though Trump isn’t expected to return to the arena.