Knicks Take Over in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — The atmosphere was electric as fans cheered for the Knicks, erupting in shouts as they landed a series of 3-pointers.
Each time Miles McBride hit a three, the crowd erupted with chants of “Deuce,” celebrating his impressive seven shots from beyond the arc.
As the Knicks scored, fans chanted “Knicks in 4 minutes,” energizing the arena. While this game was classified as an away match for the Knicks, the scene felt different—clearly dominated by their supporters. On Mother’s Day, a tidal wave of Orange and Blue overtook the Xfinity Mobile Arena, where the Knicks triumphed over the 76ers, 144-114, completing a four-game sweep.
Josh Hart, sporting a small grin, remarked, “I thought Philadelphia was a sports town. I don’t know if that’s going to happen anymore.” This weekend, it clearly felt like Knicks territory.
During Game 3, while a significant number of Knicks fans had shown up, they were somewhat muted by the louder 76ers crowd until the outcome was inevitable. Sunday was a different story. On this day, Knicks fans asserted their presence, making the arena feel like their own.
Any opposition was drowned out by the 76ers’ public address announcer, whose efforts proved futile against the Knicks onslaught.
The festivities began during warmups as Knicks fans jeered at Joel Embiid, prompting Hart to reflect, “For a second, I thought I was back in the garden.”
Adding to the showdown, some Knicks supporters distributed mini-posters commemorating Mitchell Robinson’s alley-oop dunk against Embiid from Friday’s game, a playful jab at 76ers fans. “Hey, Mitch did his thing here, so give the fans a big shout out,” McBride noted.
Before the series began, Embiid had urged 76ers fans to keep their tickets, hoping to prevent a repeat of the two years prior when Knicks fans had overtaken Xfinity Mobile Arena. The team had attempted to limit ticket sales to local Philadelphia residents, reminiscent of a strategy the Pistons used last year against the Knicks.
Despite their efforts, including donating 500 tickets to local community groups for each game, the situation shifted dramatically. Once the Knicks secured victories in the first two games of the series at home, tickets rapidly appeared on the secondary market.
This situation seemed to frustrate Tyrese Maxey. “Honestly, it really sucks. It just sucks,” he admitted. “That’s all I can say about this: It’s tough. We just need to go out there and win.”
He added, “To be completely honest, we were better when we played them at the Garden all season. I know we lost Game 1 and Game 2, but Game 2 was an improvement. I told them it felt louder here than it was at the Garden.”
