Knicks’d: NY fans despondent after hometown team is eliminated from NBA playoffs

A day that started with New York Knicks fans crossing their fingers devolved into thumbs down and shrugging shoulders.

Game seven of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals ended in disappointment for the hometown Knickerbockers, who lost 130 to 109 to the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The loss capped off an electric playoff run for the Knicks, who had hopes of exceeding last season’s success by advancing deeper than the second round of the playoffs.

But those hopes were long gone by Sunday evening, when fans started to file out of MSG before the loss was even complete.

John Papa traveled to Manhattan from New Jersey on Sunday to catch the game in person. And as he was leaving the arena, he said he was devastated.

“It was electric in there,” he said. “But they got blown out from the start. We got blown out from the start.”

During the game, bars in Manhattan were packed during the game Sunday, with Knicks fans spilling out onto the street, like at Blarney Stone on 8th Avenue just outside of MSG.

The Knicks – who haven’t brought home a championship since 1973 – went into the game celebrating the return of OG Anunoby, who missed the previous four games with a strained left hamstring. Josh Hart was also back in the lineup after leaving game six with an abdominal strain. But that ultimately could not propel the team past the Pacers, who were hot out the gate on Sunday, scoring 39 points and taking a 12-point lead as the first quarter came to a close.

The news only got worse for the Knicks as star point guard Jalen Brunson exited the game late with a fractured hand. Some fans watching the game at Blarney’s said they lost faith when they heard about Brunson’s injury, walking out of the bar lamenting, “We lost guys.”

One man in the bar was heard yelling, “Is there a priest or a rabbi? We need a prayer!”

Knicks fan Bobby Diaz was not happy as he exited the Garden.

“This is B.S. because I spent $700 on a ticket and they didn’t do freakin’ good at all,” he said. “Seven-hundred dollars!”

After the game, fans were congregating outside of Madison Square Garden in a moment of group catharsis, shouting, “F— the Celtics,” referring to the team from Boston that the Pacers will go on to play in the conference finals on Tuesday.

Chantay Sawell traveled to Madison Square Garden from Queens. She said she had reason to be hopeful for the future of the team.

“So I stopped watching the Knicks seven years ago because they sucked,” she said. “They came back. They rebuilt. I was happy. Started going to the games. It’s a heartbreak, but you know what? It was a great year. They should be proud and I hope they continue to do well and just hold their heads up high.”