NEW YORK — Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals will be Josh Hart’s 30th home playoff game as a member of the New York Knicks — the 30th time he’s seen fans fill the stands at Madison Square Garden for a contest that means more than most. He’s got a pretty good idea of what to expect.
“The Garden is going to be rocking,” Hart said Sunday at the Knicks’ practice session ahead of Game 3 on Monday night. “Obviously, in this city we love our Knicks. So we’re going to come out, show love, support. The energy is going to be electric.”
There will be two major differences to the regularly scheduled raucous and rambunctious atmosphere, though. For one thing, Monday will mark the first NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden since June 25, 1999 — just a few weeks after the eldest Knick on this year’s roster, guard Jordan Clarkson, turned 7 years old — which promises to crank the ferocity of the Knicks’ fan base up to an even more feverish pitch.
“I think it’s really cool — 27 years since the last Finals here in this building,” Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson said. “I know the fan base is really excited, as they should be, but as a team, us inside the locker room, we have more work to do.”
“I mean, I feel like we kind of got a taste of [what it will feel like] a little bit in San Antonio,” San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper said. “I think that next game tomorrow is going to be electric. I think it’s going to be through the roof. I think it’s going to be everything that I’ve kind of seen or dreamed of times 10.”
For another, there’s going to be a pretty big new addition to the ranks of famous faces at MSG. President Donald Trump plans to attend Monday’s Game 3, at the invitation of Knicks owner James L. Dolan, a longtime donor to local and national Republican parties and candidates, including the president. This will mark the first time a sitting U.S. president has ever attended an NBA Finals game.
“I think sports in particular is something where we can emphasize what we have in common, not what pulls us apart,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said this week. “It creates a sense of belonging. We’re seeing that in New York, and I think President Trump is very much a New Yorker, and I’m thrilled that yet another New Yorker wants to participate in the enthusiasm and the joy around this Knick team.”
In anticipation of Trump’s arrival, the Knicks will employ more stringent security measures at the arena, including a “strict no-bag policy,” a prohibition on certain items deemed potentially dangerous, and “TSA-style screening procedures.” That elevated level of pregame screening led the team to strongly encourage fans to arrive at least two hours early for Game 3, which is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
“There should be extra security for the President of the United States to be at a game, but I think the fans are very understanding of that,” Silver told reporters Friday. “I think they recognize that it adds to the bigness of the event.”
The president’s attendance has also led to the cancellation of the planned watch party outside of MSG for Game 3, according to SNY’s Ian Begley, who cites a New York Police Department source as saying the “decision was made in coordination with the Secret Service.”
Although a spokesperson for MSG attempted to clarify the matter to The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III:
“The permit for the Plaza33 Game 3 watch party was denied by the City’s permitting office in consultation with the NYPD. However, the White House will confirm that this is not about the President. We understand NYPD Commissioner [Jessica] Tisch is planning additional street closures around Madison Square Garden.”
An estimated 7,000 people attended the MSG watch party for the Knicks’ Game 2 win, according to the New York Daily News; by night’s end, 26 attendees were arrested, including one taken in for assaulting an NYPD officer.
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani said this week he also plans to attend Game 3, though he does not anticipate being seated near the president, whether he winds up courtside on Celebrity Row or in a luxury suite.
“I will be in a very different section of the stadium,” Mamdani said, according to the Daily News, “and I think we look forward to welcoming any New Yorker who is excited for the Knicks to have that chance to win that championship.”
News of Trump’s attendance has engendered strong reactions from some politicians and pundits. Inside the Garden as both Finals participants prepared for Game 3, though, the Knicks and Spurs emphasized the importance of remaining laser-focused on their immediate goal and tuning out the outside noise — even the disruption and cacophony that comes with the arrival of a sitting president.
“For me personally, especially in college, [Villanova] Coach [Jay] Wright always talked about [how] we play for the guys in the locker room, and we don’t really play to the crowd,” Hart said. “So for me, I feel like I’m able to kind of tune that out pretty well, just because that guy instilled that in me [during my] four years in college.”
“I think he will just be there watching the game,” Knicks forward OG Anunoby said. “We’re just going to go as usual and play our game and try to win the game.”
Asked what he thought about the president’s attendance, Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns pivoted and focused his remarks elsewhere — on Knicks fans in general, and on the specific task of the team not resting on their laurels after taking two games in San Antonio.
“We got to be desperate for these fans,” Towns said. “Fans have earned the right and deserve the right to see Finals basketball be played here at Madison Square Garden. For this to be the first game in a long time that they have seen Finals basketball, it’s up to us to bring it, give ’em something to cheer for, give ’em something to get loud for and also give ’em something to believe in.
“I talked about the word ‘hope.’ Hope has been brought back to the city. We’ve revitalized that word. But the word ‘success’ hasn’t been seen in this city for a long time. So we have to continue to fight to bring that word back to fruition.”
After dropping the first two games of this series at home and facing the towering task of beating a Knicks team that hasn’t lost in seven weeks four times in five games, the Spurs spoke about drawing on previous experiences to find a baseline amid the Finals-plus-Trump circus.
“I think it could be [more difficult given all the attention], but isolating myself is something I’ve practiced over the years,” Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama said. “I think I’m good at it. So it’s not a problem. This is similar to something media-wise like the Olympics.”
“I think there will obviously be a ton of excitement around the game,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said. “This arena’s like no other. The added circumstances will be on top of that. We’ve been fortunate to play some games in this arena recently that have been, again, not Finals, but [the] Christmas game [in 2024]. Again, I just think added attention around Victor and being in this arena a few times, we’ve experienced that. I would expect tomorrow will be more than that. It will be a fun environment.”
They also discussed the need to open the game by striking first to knock the MSG faithful — whatever office they might hold and wherever they might be sitting — back on their heels.
“We got to try to come out and — obviously easier said than done — but try to take the crowd out of it as quickly as possible,” Spurs All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox said. “I think, even like our Game 7 [in Oklahoma City], we never really let the crowd get into the game. Obviously, easier said than done. But just trying to negate some of their runs. You know you’re going to come in here, it’s going to be loud, it’s going to — don’t want to use the word ‘hostile,’ but it’s going to be hostile. So you just try to not let the crowd get on their toes too much.”
The first step in that process is not allowing the enormity of the stage — Game 3 down 2-0 at the World’s Most Famous Arena — or the increased global scrutiny that comes with Trump’s presence to prevent them from zoning in on the task at hand. Asked how he planned to treat Monday, Johnson replied simply, “Like a Finals game.”
“Once you get past the fact that we’re playing in the Finals, you’re on this big stage that you dreamed of, it’s still basketball,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. “We got to lock back in and focus on our details and try and win the next game.”
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