Knicks fever engulfs New York with end to title drought in sight
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The New York Knicks are just one win away from snapping a 53-year NBA title drought.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW YORK – New York Knicks fever has engulfed the five boroughs this week, with the team just one win away from snapping a 53-year NBA title drought and the kick-off of the first of the region’s eight World Cup matches across the river on June 13 taking a backseat for many locals.
Brazil and Morocco kick off the football action in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at 6pm local time on June 13.
But the attention of born-and-raised New Yorkers will be on the Knicks when they tip off against the San Antonio Spurs in Texas in Game 5 of the championship series two-and-a-half hours later.
“This is an incredible time to be a sports fan and, frankly, an even greater time to be a New Yorker,” said the city’s sports-mad Mayor Zohran Mamdani on June 11, wearing a Knicks jersey under his blazer as he addressed fans ahead of the World Cup match.
The streets of Manhattan were clogged with blue-and-orange-clad fans deep into the night on June 10, after the Knicks made up a staggering 29-point deficit to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series against the Spurs at Madison Square Garden.
OG Anunoby capped the instant classic with a game-winning putback that coach Mike Brown called “the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball”.
Others compared the tip-in to Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal, with ESPN dubbing it the “Hand of OG”.
“The energy in our city right now is incredible,” added Mamdani. “Time and again, people have doubted the Knicks. And time and again, the Knicks have proven the doubters wrong. OG Anunoby with the greatest outstretched hand since Diego Maradona.”
Fans from New York and New Jersey snapped up some 44 per cent of tickets for Game 5 at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center sold on TickPick, the second-hand ticket platform said, as the Knicks look to wrap up the series on the road or at home in Game 6 on June 16.
The Knicks’ towering Karl-Anthony Towns paid tribute to the fans’ grit and resiliency, applauding them for staying through to the final buzzer when Game 4 appeared all but out of reach.
“Shout-out to our fans, man,” he told reporters. “As anyone who lives in New York knows, if you want to make it in this city, you have to be okay getting it out of the mud, and we did that.”
The New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) public relations office said it would announce on June 12 whether fans would be permitted to congregate outside Madison Square Garden to watch the game on big screens, a tradition among fans that was upended due to security concerns at this week’s two home games.
That prompted open rancour between Knicks owner James Dolan, the NYPD and Mamdani.
Madison Square Garden sits atop Penn Station, a key transit hub for ticketholders to June 13’s World Cup game. REUTERS