76ers take extreme step to try to block Knicks fans from attending games in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia 76ers trail the New York Knicks to the tune of 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinal matchup that will resume at Philadelphia's Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday evening (7 p.m. ET tipoff). 

In the eyes of some, the Sixers took another loss before Game 3 got underway. 

76ers donate tickets to keep Knicks fans out of arena

Per ESPN and The Associated Press, the 76ers are donating 500 tickets for both Game 3 and Game 4 of the series versus the Knicks to local area community groups. Presumably, those groups will be filled with 76ers fans who will take up seats that otherwise could have been occupied by passionate Knicks supporters who would have scooped up the tickets. 

On Thursday night, Zach Braziller of the New York Post reported that ticket resale marketplace TickPick claimed that 59 percent of tickets purchased via that outlet for Game 3 of the series had been linked with New York and New Jersey. To compare, 22 percent were linked with Pennsylvania at the time Braziller penned his piece. 

For what it's worth, South New Jersey is filled with passionate Philadelphia sports fans.

"Overnight [after Game 2], we saw a huge spike in the amount of inventory being listed," TickPick director of content Kyle Zorn told Braziller. "Had the series gone 1-1, or if it went 2-0 Philadelphia, you would see a decrease in inventory or a stable amount of tickets on site. That is very telling. A lot of signs are pointing to there being a large percentage of fans coming from New York. I would expect a majority of those tickets being put up for sale coming from season ticket holders or anyone who purchased tickets from that initial on-sale that was restricted to Philadelphia geolocations."

Previously, the 76ers attempted to geographically restrict sales made through Ticketmaster for the series to the greater Philadelphia area. 

More bad news for 76ers?

Meanwhile, a Thursday report revealed that Knicks forward OG Anunoby had been diagnosed with a right hamstring strain after he left Game 2 of the series with 2:31 remaining in the fourth quarter and didn't return. According to Ian Begley of SNY, "Anunoby is truly day-to-day" and could play in Game 4 on Sunday if he isn't able to go on Friday night.