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The Mecca of basketball is not a light nickname to carry. Madison Square Garden, or MSG as most fans call it, has been the definitive sports venue for a long time now. This meant that. when the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks headed back to the glorious arena for Game 3, a shift in the atmosphere was to be expected. Victor Wembanyama sensed this too and got real about how insanely different MSG was during their 115-111 win.
Spurs' Wembanyama reveals difficulty of facing Knicks at MSG
To everyone who has been on the internet in the past months, it has become no secret that Knicks fans have been going rabid. From famed superstars like Tina Fey and Spike Lee to people who have waited 27 years for their team to get back into the NBA Finals, everyone was going nuts. Prior to the ball getting tipped into the air, MSG was also extremely loud already from the fans in the stands and even the echoes of those who waited outside.
Victor Wembanyama noted how these types of crowds at MSG were particularly hard to navigate during games. The Spurs superstar revealed his experience after winning Game 3 over the Knicks, via Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic.
"At home, it really feels like playing six against five. Here it feels like five against six," the Spurs superstar said.
Crowd pops usually helped the Knicks prolong their momentum against the Spurs. It was most evident in the second quarter of Game 3. Jalen Brunson led his team to score 42 points while preventing the Spurs from getting more than 24 points. However, Wembanyama and Co. were able to circumvent these woes through going on a second half tear to score 58 points while the Knicks only notched 47 points of their own.
After the game, Knicks fans and some opportunistic people started rioting around the city, some even around the premises of MSG. For a place called the Mecca of basketball, it surely does bring out the extreme bests and horrid ills during the NBA Finals.
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