The fourth quarter of Game 3 was an absolute eyesore. Both the Knicks and the Spurs shot under 30% from the floor in a grueling, ugly stretch that ended with San Antonio scraping out a 115-111 win at Madison Square Garden. The Spurs saved their season. The Knicks blew a chance to go up 3-0. But the real ugliness didn’t stay on the hardwood. It spilled onto the pavement.
New York lost its mind. Bitter local fans targeted anyone wearing silver and black. They jumped people. They stalked them. In one viral clip, a mob ripped a Victor Wembanyama jersey off a fan’s back and stomped it into the dirt. Over at Bryant Park, a watch party devolved into pure chaos, leaving 21 people in handcuffs. Just another night in the big city.
Victor Wembanyama had a monster night with 32 points, but he was oblivious to the street warfare until reporters brought it up on Tuesday. The 22-year-old French phenom paused, processing the stupidity of it all. “Fans got attacked?” he asked. Once clued in, he didn’t mince words. He reminded everyone that basketball is just a game. Passion is fine. Assault is not. It is unacceptable. Simple as that.
Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns agreed. He argued that the NBA Finals should be about pure basketball, not street brawls. Leave the hitting to the guys getting paid for it. Even Hollywood got involved. Ben Stiller, a courtside fixture at the Garden, took to social media to tell his fellow New Yorkers to grow up and show some basic human decency.
Spurs forward Julian Champagnie, a native New Yorker, shrugged off the hostility. He knows how this city operates. Earlier, head coach Mitch Johnson and his family faced heckling, but Champagnie isn’t sweating it. Still, he thinks beating people up over a bouncing ball is pathetic. His teammate, Keldon Johnson, echoed the sentiment. The Sixth Man of the Year pointed out that players on both sides value safety. Nobody wants to see blood spilled over a sport.
The series stands at 2-1, with Game 4 set for Wednesday. Donald Trump reportedly won’t be showing up, but the NYPD isn’t taking chances. They are shutting down major streets around the Garden again. There will be an outdoor watch party, but it will be heavily policed inside a strict security perimeter. Because apparently, grown adults can’t be trusted to watch a game without trying to kill each other.
