Taylor Swift, Timothee Chalamet and director Spike Lee were all watching in the Madison Square Garden arena.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted on X in all caps, “SPEECHLESS”, while Swift, who was wearing a T-shirt that said “Stevie Knicks” – a play on the name of the team and the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman – jumped for joy as she left the court, stopping to be twirled by one of the Knicks City Dancers.
Knicks coach Mike Brown said OG Anunoby’s move has to be the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball. “It was just unbelievable.”
This season has represented a stunning reversal of fortune for the Knicks who haven’t been in the finals since 1999, when they lost to the Spurs. New Yorkers have been out in the streets celebrating each win.
“The city is electric,” a fan told the BBC earlier in the week. New York has been decorated in a Knicks theme from the top of the Empire State Building to the paws of the marble lions outside the New York Public Library’s Fifth Avenue branch.
“I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like this before because in 1999 I was 4 years old. I’m just trying to soak it all in,” Resident Sol, 31, told the BBC earlier this week, saying he couldn’t be more excited.
After Wednesday’s result, the team need to win just one more game to win the national championship for the first time since 1973. Their first chance will come on Saturday night, when they will play Game five in San Antonio.
But comebacks can work both ways – San Antonio may be the new underdogs, but they could still win, if they take the next three games.
