The NBA Finals have New Yorkers desperate for a Knicks victory trying everything in their powers to help the team.
Maybe it’s the ratcheting tension as the series continues — as of this report, the Knicks are leading 2-1 against the San Antonio Spurs — but New Yorkers have taken to all manner of ritual and diversion in response to the finals.
One group of Knicks fans took it upon themselves to burn sage outside of Madison Square Garden after President Donald Trump attended on Monday. The Knicks took their first loss in months the night Trump was in the arena — and the fans aren’t taking any chances ahead of Game 4.
“Bad energy yesterday, bad energy, we gotta get it out,” a man holding the camera can be heard saying, as he’s waving around the burning sage and passing it to others by the entrance to the Garden.
“It felt so dark, I was like, this is not the Garden that I know. We gotta get this out of here,” he then told a nearby group.
“Burning sage may also be used as a ritual tool to rid yourself or your space of negativity,” according to Healthline. “This includes past traumas, bad experiences, or negative energies from others.”
Following the loss, some Knicks fans took to social media to complain that the president “cursed” the arena.
“I’m not an expert on jinxes, hexes, curses, and voodoo. Not superstitious either. But if I was the Knicks, I probably wouldn’t let Trump near the arena for Game 4. Just to be on the safe side,” one X user wrote.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also blamed Trump for the loss, telling The Independent that that the president not only cost New Yorkers a good time by shutting down the center the city with his security needs, but that he cost the team a win by being a distraction.
It was a bad night all around for Trump; not only did the Knicks lose, but the stadium booed him as he appeared on screens during the national anthem.
Legendary director Spike Lee tried to bring some divine power to game three by wearing a Knicks jersey signed by Pope Leo XIV. Unfortunately for the Knicks it appears as though the Pope’s holy influence wasn’t enough to overcome the Spurs offense.
While much of the celebrating and excitement surrounding the finals has been all in good fun, there have been some unfortunate incidents as well.
A Knicks watch party in Bryant Park ended with five NYPD officers injured and 21 people arrested. Fans poured out of the park and onto 42nd Street, ABC7 reports, before some surrounded and jumped on cars.
Police officers were hit with beer bottles, while someone dismantled a bus sign to wield as a weapon, the outlet reports. Others chased Sans Antonio fans in the streets, with a Spurs jersey also being set alight.
In addition to the injured police, several bystanders were also hurt, the station reports.
Eight of the people arrested were charged with offenses that include assault on a police officer, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration. Others were given citations for disorderly conduct.
The violence was condemned by a pair of high-profile Knicks fans; actor Ben Stiller and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“Being a Knick fan doesn’t mean being disrespectful to Spurs fans in any way,” Stiller wrote in a social media post. “We get caught up during the games but gotta show respect to our fellow humans.”
Mamdani saw Stiller’s post and responded with support.
“Couldn’t agree more. We’ll win this series on the court (even if the refs refuse to call a flagrant on Wemby), not by targeting harassing, or attacking Spurs fans,” Mamdani wrote. “Knicks in 5.”
Even Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns spoke up to tell everyone to chill out, according to CBS News.
“We want everyone to respect each other,” he said. “Leave the physicality to everyone on the court.”
Despite the violence, it’s clear most Knicks fans are reacting to the finals in socially acceptable ways. One fan told CNN that they paid more than $1,000 to fly more than 3,000 miles back to New York City from Europe just so they could watch the Knicks in New York and experience the excitement in the city.
Rapper Fat Joe described the Knicks’ first return to the finals since 1999 as a great unifier in the city.
“I seen Hasidic Jews break dancing with Black kids. This is the greatest unification of the city since 9/11,” he said during a Knicks press conference.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals begins tonight at 8:30 p.m. EST.
