Fans of the New York Knicks showed up and showed out over the weekend.
When the Philadelphia 76ers looked to pick up their second win of the possible seven-game series, Knicks fans packed the Wells Fargo Center bowl and made it feel like it was a neutral site for the Atlantic Division rivals.
Home players were getting booed, Jalen Brunson landed loud MVP chants, and the postgame celebration after a Knicks win looked like the streets of Manhattan in South Philly.
The presence of Knicks fans was so significant that Philly’s star center, Joel Embiid, addressed it after the Game 5 loss.
“I love our fans. I think it’s unfortunate. I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing,” Embiid said after Game 4. “Obviously, we got a lot of Knicks fans and they’re down the road, but I’ve never seen it. I’ve been here 10 years. It kinda pisses me off. Philly is considered a sports town. They’ve always shown up and I don’t think that should happen. It’s not OK.”
The Sixers had to hit the road for Game 5 on Tuesday. Although they went into Madison Square Garden winless in the postseason, the 76ers came out on top with a victory. With that, the Sixers’ season stayed alive, forcing a Game 6 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Now that it’s official, 76ers legend Charles Barkley sent a message to Knicks fans planning to travel to the home of the Sixers this week.
“If ya’ll come down to Philly with that damn racket Thursday night, there’s going to be some repercussions and some consequences,” said Barkley. “That’s right. Ya’ll better not come down to Philly with that damn racket.”
“There’s going to be some racket on Thursday night… I guarantee it!”
The question becomes: Who’s going to be the ringleader? A dramatic overtime win on the road in Game 5 added a lot of juice for Sixers fans, who are confident their team can force a Game 7 after looking defeated in the final minutes of Tuesday’s outing.
Of course, Knicks fans are expected to bring the energy, though. Not only did Knicks fans travel well for the first two games of the series, but they also had a good turnout during the two regular season meetings between the Sixers and the Knicks in South Philly.
New Yorkers are going to apply pressure — it will be up to the Sixers to silence them and prevent them from celebrating a trip to the second round on their own turf.
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