Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns praises NYPD amid rowdy watch parties during NBA Finals run
New York Knicks fans flooded Madison Square Garden and Manhattan streets, bars and restaurants to watch the team play in their first NBA Finals game in 27 years on Wednesday night.
The Knicks were in San Antonio to take on the Spurs, and in typical Knicks fashion, they fought back from down 14 points in the third quarter to earn their own double-digit victory.
With 8 million people living in New York and countless others in the tri-state area, Knicks fever is running sky high, which has caused lots of rowdiness.
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In fact, Knicks fans got so rowdy that the New York Police Department temporarily banned watch parties outside MSG — yet the decision was reversed for Game 1.
"I pray for the NYPD," Karl-Anthony Towns joked to reporters on Thursday.
But the joking was over quickly, and he praised the first responders for keeping the city safe during perhaps the biggest championship run the city has ever seen.
"I gotta give a shoutout to the NYPD," he continued, "to all those men and women that are out there who are not only protecting everybody, but on the flipside as well, in my personal experience, who are huge fans of the Knicks and support the Knicks fans in their ability to show how much they love the Knicks and being as lenient as possible without causing chaos."
Six arrests were made outside MSG during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks took a 2-0 series lead just days after completing a 22-point comeback in the fourth quarter, which truly began the rowdiness.
Despite no watch party for the Knicks' clincher last week, fans still took to the streets to celebrate.
After Game 1 was complete, the party was on and bigger than ever.
New York will play host to its first NBA Finals game since 1999 on Monday, when the Knicks could have a commanding 2-0 lead returning home.
