PHILADELPHIA — Knicks fans didn’t take over Wells Fargo Center.
But they took away the win.
Amidst chants of “Let’s go Knicks! Let’s go Knicks!” down the stretch, the visitors pulled out a come-from-behind 118-115 first-round Game 6 victory that eliminated Philadelphia — and gave their fans the right to celebrate. And gloat.
No, it wasn’t anywhere near as glaring as Games 3 and 4, where they overran Wells Fargo Center.
The sight of all that orange and blue, and the sounds of all those loud New Yorkers had so embarrassed Philadelphia that star Joel Embiid understandably chastised his own fanbase.
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“Disappointed. I love our fans. I think it’s unfortunate — and I’m not calling them out — but it is disappointing,” Embiid had said.
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“Obviously you got a lot of Knicks fans, they’re down the road. I’ve never seen it, and I’ve been here for 10 years. Yeah, it kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town. They’ve always shown up. I don’t think that should happen. Yeah, it’s not OK.”
The Sixers organization made calls to their season ticket holders over the prior two days, asking them to show up and be loud according to TNT.
And the 76ers current and past ownership bought out thousands of tickets to hand out to locals, trying to avoid a repeat.
Knicks fans go wild after the team’s Game 6 win over the 76ers on May 2, 2024. Screengrab Former minority owner Michael Rubin announced that he’d teamed up with owners 76ers Josh Harris, David Blitzer and David Adelman to buy “more than 2,000” tickets to be given to “first responders, health care professionals and other local Philadelphia-based organizations.”
It worked for most of the night.
But not when it mattered.
Just 15 percent of the crowd Thursday night were Knick fans, Vivid Seats’ Fan Forecast projected using proprietary data. But that minority got the last laugh.
A small “F Embiid” chant early on from Knicks fans was followed and drowned out by loud ‘F the Knicks’ responses.
Knicks fans go wild after the team’s Game 6 win over the 76ers on May 2, 2024. Screengrab Embiid was largely serenaded with cheers of “MVP! MVP!” by the partisan home crowd.
And the center looked the part, utterly dominant in his time on the floor. He had a team-high 39 points and a game-high-tying 13 rebounds before fouling out.
But after Jalen Brunson’s 3-pointer gave the visitors a 101-95 lead with six minutes left, chants of “Let’s go Knicks!” got louder and louder over the final minutes.
As Brunson stepped to the line up 111-108 with 53 seconds to play, the Knick guard was the one hearing “MVP! MVP!” from the New Yorkers that had made their way down the Turnpike and on the train.
And when he found Jason Hart for a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 25 seconds left, most of the building went silent as the pockets of Knicks fans erupted.
While Knicks fans weren’t as audible during Game 6, their presence was still felt.
After Hart drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer with 25.1 seconds left, which gave the Knicks a 114-111 lead, there was an audible roar from Knicks fans.
In addition to the chanting, Knicks fans were heard singing “Na na hey hey kiss him goodbye” as Knicks fans took over the arena’s concourse.
When asked about winning in a hostile crowd, Tom Thibodeau mischievously asked “was it hostile?
“Philly’s a great sports town, great. I coached here a couple of years a long time ago and their fans are great. It’s a great basketball city in terms of great high school basketball, great college basketball and a great pro team with a rich history. So it’s a great atmosphere to be in.
“And then of course I think the proximity to New York we ended up having a lot of fans here as well. We feel we have the best fans in the world. They travel well, so they go with us wherever we go. But it was great to play in that atmosphere where there’s so much passion amongst the fans.”
Warning: expletive language
Knicks fans also reveled in the win back home in New York City, chanting “f–k Embiid” outside Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks will next take on the Pacers, who closed out their series with the Bucks in six games Thursday night, in the second round.
Game 1 is set for Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
— With Jared Schwartz
