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.
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.
“Everybody that’s selling shirts, they want it to go seven games,” he said. “Not me. I’d rather them close it out.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
Still, for all the unity on the streets, the Knicks are also generating their share of old-fashioned New York tension.
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.
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.
Joel Ramos, a Knicks fan from Queens, said he appreciates the need to keep fans safe, but also believes that New Yorkers should have a place to congregate and celebrate together.
“All the real local fans can’t get in,” he said. “They can’t get nowhere near the Garden, especially with how outrageous these ticket prices are.”
In spite of the tighter cordon, the city will permit a watch party for nearly 1,000 people outside the Garden on Wednesday, after barring one from being held near the arena on Monday.
“We’re incredibly excited for the game tonight. The watch party is back on for outside of Madison Square Garden,” Mamdani said at a news conference. “I’m thrilled that New Yorkers will once again have the opportunity to come together to cheer on the Knicks and to be part of this historic Finals run.”
MSG Sports in a statement called the city’s plan “disingenuous at best” and said it would prevent fans from celebrating a Knicks victory outside the Garden and “turn the streets around MSG into a police state.”
The NYPD’s plan calls for a perimeter from West 29th Street to West 35th Street between Sixth and Eighth Avenues. Seventh Avenue within that zone closes to vehicles and pedestrians at 4 p.m. Anyone entering must have a game ticket, train ticket, business in the area or another authorized reason. Backpacks, bags, alcohol and umbrellas are prohibited.
Along with the gathering outside the Garden, other official watch parties will be held at Central Park and Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, a Mamdani spokesperson said. Numerous restaurants, bars and nightclubs around the city are also opening their doors to Knicks fans for the game.
“This team has brought an extraordinary amount of energy, pride, excitement to every corner of our city, and we want to encourage every New Yorker to celebrate in this moment,” Mamdani said. “We want this to be a memorable night for all the right reasons.”
After the Knicks lost on Monday, Brown, the Midtown t-shirt vendor, said that his sales had slowed a bit, but demand was picking back up. “So far, so good,” said Brown, who expressed more concern about the Finals officiating than his sales.
“Give us a parade and we will make money there,” Brown added. “Knicks in five.”