Both the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs shot below 30% from the field in the final frame of the Spurs’ redemptive 115-111 victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
The fourth quarter was a rock fight. What happened afterward in the streets of New York was much uglier.
Real fighting took place, as Spurs fans were attacked by New Yorkers in the aftermath of the Knicks squandering an opportunity to go up 3-0 in the series. People wearing Spurs gear were jumped and followed. Videos of postgame fracases in the streets went viral, including one in which a fan’s Tim Duncan jersey was torn, taken and stomped on.
On a night/early morning when 21 people were reportedly arrested as a fan watch party at Bryant Park unraveled, bedlam coursed through the surrounding areas.
Hours later, on Tuesday afternoon, Spurs and Knicks players were asked about those widely circulated clips of Spurs fans being targeted. Removed from a resurgent, 32-point performance, Wembanyama hadn’t seen the footage.
“Fans got attacked?” he said during media availability, via SNY.”
Once a reporter confirmed that’s indeed what happened, the 22-year-old phenom admitted he wasn’t aware and then took a reflective pause.
“My thoughts, of course, is that we can’t forget it’s a game. We’re just playing a game out there. And I am all for passion, but, to the respect of each other, it’s unacceptable.”
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Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns shared similar feelings with reporters.
“I mean, the game is built off respect and passion,” the six-time All-Star said. “We want everyone to respect each other. We want everyone to enjoy basketball at its pure state. I mean, it’s the NBA Finals. There’s no better place to watch basketball.
“So leave the physicality to everyone on the court.”
Coming from Towns, one of the Knicks’ biggest voices, that statement carries weight. Another was made online by one of the New York’s most notable fans, Ben Stiller, who, like fellow entertainment industry icon Spike Lee, is a regular courtside attendee at Knicks games.
“Being a Knick fan doesn’t mean being disrespectful to Spurs fans in any way,” Stiller wrote Tuesday on X. “We get caught up during the games, but we gotta show respect to our fellow humans…”
Spurs forward Julian Champagnie is a New York native. He was asked Tuesday about the videos depicting fan violence, and even one that emerged earlier of San Antonio head coach Mitch Johnson and his family being heckled in the city, and if Champagnie’s felt any threat toward the team since he’s been back in the Big Apple for the Finals.
“I don’t really feel no threat. I’m from here, so I feel like a lot of this stuff is kind of just like what it is. You get used to it,” Champagnie said, via SNY.
“So I don’t know about threat, but I think that, obviously, we’re here to play a basketball game. That’s the main thing. For the fans, I don’t think that it should ever be that serious, where you have to jump people, beat people up, follow people home and stuff like that. It’s just a basketball game at the end of the day. Whether we win, they win, doesn’t really matter. Everybody should be able to come and enjoy the game no matter who they’re voting for.”
Champagnie’s teammate, NBA Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson, told assembled media Tuesday that “we don’t want to sacrifice safety over the game of basketball that we love,” as captured by Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News.
Johnson conceded that there’s nothing wrong with fans showcasing their passion; however, he noted that a line has to be drawn when health and safety come into play.
“We go out there and compete every night, and we value safety,” Johnson said, via Winfield. “And I feel like that’s one through 15 on this side and one through 15 on that side. We don’t want to see people get hurt. We don’t want to see any type of violence coming into the game of basketball.
“This is a beautiful sport, and we put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into it. It’s not what we want to see. We don’t want to see violence. We want to see everybody healthy and happy.”
Thanks to timely defensive stands and shotmaking, the Spurs are back in a series that’s seen the road team win each of the Finals’ first three games. San Antonio is down 2-1, with Wednesday night’s Game 4 looming.
United State President Donald Trump is reportedly not expected to attend that contest. Regardless, a similar security perimeter around MSG is anticipated, per ABC7 News, which reported Tuesday that the plan is for major streets bordering the arena to be closed off again.
That said, NYPD is reportedly planning to allow a Game 4 watch party outside MSG. It will be inside that perimeter, though, with enhanced security, according to ABC7 News.
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