The Knicks won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals in the most inconceivable of fashions, so it’s no surprise their fans were on a high.
But in their exultation outside Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, the Knicks faithful might’ve gotten a little too ahead of themselves.
The area outside the Garden is always a party after a Knicks playoff win, and Tuesday night was no different after a 115-104 overtime victory over the Cavaliers. But some Knicks fans were already thinking about an NBA Finals opponent.
“We want Wemby!” some fans on the plaza chanted in unison, referring to Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, whose team has a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals over the Thunder.
Some exuberant fans in another chant yelled out, “Knicks in four.”
If the Knicks do end up playing the Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals, New York does bring in a championship edge over San Antonio from this season. The Knicks beat the Spurs, who were limiting Wembanyama’s minutes, in the NBA Cup final in mid-December.
The two teams split the other two games in the regular season, with each squad winning at home.
But the Knicks will still have to get past a Cavaliers team, which did luck vulnerable after blowing a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell led the way with 29 points, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t pull back any punches after the loss.
“We lost, we f–king blew it,” he told reporters.
San Antonio would have to get past the defending champion Thunder to make a Knicks-Spurs 1999 NBA Finals rematch happen, too. That series resumes on Wednesday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
