Knicks fans completely took over New York City after the franchise returned to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
The New York Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night with a 130-93 blowout victory to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks overwhelmed Cleveland from the opening quarter and never looked back.
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As predicted, Knicks fans stormed New York City streets on Memorial Day to celebrate the franchise’s first Finals berth since 1999.
Videos poured out from Manhattan intersections, packed bars outside Madison Square Garden and booming “WE WANT WEMBY” chants outside MSG.
Fans carried brooms through Manhattan streets in anticipation of a Cavaliers sweep, climbed atop traffic lights while NYPD officers ordered them down and unleashed the kind of basketball pandemonium NYC has waited decades to experience again.
Even Radio City Music Hall erupted with Knicks chants as the city collectively lost its mind Monday night.
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For two-and-a-half decades, the Knicks largely operated as the NBA’s perpetual hype machine, always discussed and rarely dangerous.
Madison Square Garden stayed packed, celebrities still lined the baseline and the fan base never disappeared, but the Knicks were mostly surviving on history.
Fans who grew up in the 1990s and beyond knew more about Patrick Ewing, John Starks and the Knicks’ bruising playoff wars with Michael Jordan’s Bulls, Reggie Miller’s Pacers and Pat Riley’s Heat than actual postseason success of their own.
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What followed were years of failed eras and false hope.
There was Stephon Marbury, the Isiah Thomas years and Carmelo Anthony’s brief window, yet the Knicks still couldn’t break through.
Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson transformed the franchise’s identity and gave New York the closer it spent years chasing.
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Karl-Anthony Towns stretched defenses all postseason, while Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby helped turn the Knicks into one of the league’s nastiest two-way teams.
The breakthrough did not happen overnight. Knicks team president Leon Rose doubled down after New York lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games during the 2025 postseason, making the controversial decision to move on from Tom Thibodeau and hire Mike Brown.
Many viewed the coaching change as a risky pivot that could backfire. Instead, Brown turned the Knicks into a legitimate Finals threat.
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After surviving a grueling six-game series against Atlanta in the opening round, including an early 2-1 deficit, New York powered through Philadelphia and then steamrolled Cleveland.
Cleveland folded early Monday night.
Now, New York braces for a potential showdown with either the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder or Victor Wembanyama’s rising San Antonio Spurs.
The Knicks and the chaos surrounding them may become the story of the NBA Finals.
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