NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Inside Madison Square Garden, Spike Lee wore a Knicks jersey with Pope Leo’s name on the back. On the concourse and the street, fans in blue and orange cheered and chanted. Watch parties sprung up all over the city, including one at a Brooklyn funeral home.
reached a new peak Monday night, with New York hosting Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Shouts of 鈥淟et’s go Knicks!鈥� and 鈥淜nicks in four!鈥� were heard throughout midtown Manhattan, with spirits up even as tight security measures for the presence of President Donald Trump caused hours-long lines to get in.
The excitement extended until just about the final buzzer, when the that ended New York’s 13-game postseason winning streak. San Antonio trimmed its series deficit to 2-1 and avoided getting pushed to the brink of elimination.
With the Knicks in the finals for the first time since 1999 and their first home game this round was a hot ticket. The get-in price exceeded the average cost of rent in the biggest U.S. city.
鈥淭his is my son here, so taking him to the finals, you can鈥檛 really put a price on the experience,鈥� said Greg Weldon, who flew in from Florida to attend a finals game as he did when New York won it all in 1970 and ’73. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like that commercial: The tickets, ridiculous; the hassle getting in, ridiculous 鈥� the experience, priceless.鈥�
The cheapest upper-deck seats available were going for over $5,000 on resale platforms like StubHub, SeatGeek and VividSeats. The experience of being courtside carried a $75,000 price tag.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care who you are, that鈥檚 a lot of money for a ticket,鈥� said guard Jose Alvarado, a New York native who was planning a viewing party in Brooklyn and pointed out his Queens high school also is hosting one. 鈥淧eople that could afford it, we鈥檙e grateful with them coming out, and it just shows you our team is really special and we鈥檙e doing something here that hasn鈥檛 been done in a long time.鈥�
The hoopla for Game 3 included the appearance by Trump, when he was shown on arena video screens, as well as Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, Giants two-time Super Bowl-wining quarterback Eli Manning, actor Daniel Radcliff and more.
Trump’s presence outside the arena. There was instead one a few blocks away in Bryant Park, which included police intervening in at least one altercation among people gathered, according to video from the scene.
Officers also shut down an unauthorized viewing party when the game was projected onto the side of a building on 33rd Street not far from The Garden.
The possibility of a sweep drove ticket prices up to more than $10,000 apiece over the weekend, and the price is about the same for an if-necessary Game 6, which is more likely now after San Antonio guaranteed a Game 5 back in Texas.
Fewer than 20,000 people will get the opportunity to attend each night in the Big Apple. Alvarado knows far more will be watching on television all over.
鈥淭he people that can鈥檛 afford it, we improvise,鈥� he said. “We鈥檙e New Yorkers. We鈥檙e going to find a way to watch a game, and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Philip Marcelo contributed to this report.
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