Jalen Brunson jokes a $7,500 Game 3 price needs a Michael Jackson show, as New York—already riding a 12-0 roll after rallying to beat the Spurs—turns every corner into Finals territory ahead of Game 2 in San Antonio.
NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson heard the number and blinked twice.
The cheapest ticket in New York for Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and the Spurs had surged to the kind of price that makes your brain search for a loophole. On Thursday, the Knicks star was asked what he would consider worth $7,500 on the secondary market.
“That’s a good question,” Brunson said, pausing for a few seconds before answering: “A live Michael Jackson performance.”
Outside the frame of the sportsbook and the ticket app, the point was already clear. From Bay Ridge to the Bronx and beyond, the city has decided it’s all-in. The Knicks aren’t only in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years—New York is also riding a 12-0 run after winning Game 1 at San Antonio on Wednesday night.
That 105-95 win came after the Knicks rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit, flipping a late stumble into a statement. Game 2 is Friday night in San Antonio, and then the series shifts back to New York on Monday.
By the time the lights of Madison Square Garden went up for Game 1. the turnout had already become its own kind of spectacle. Thousands packed into the arena to watch the game on the big screen. while others gathered outside in the shadow of the Empire State Building as the building glowed in Knicks blue and orange.
Even the transit system leaned in. The MTA painted several subway stops around the arena in Knicks colors. Mayor Zohran Mamdani went a step further, signing an executive order temporarily lifting children’s bed-time hours.
And when midnight hit, the city’s voice didn’t soften—it sharpened. “Knicks in Four!” chants erupted shortly after midnight, as fans climbed light posts and even gathered outside an ambulance near Madison Square Garden.
The celebration wasn’t confined to Midtown. Similar scenes unfolded at a free watch party in Central Park and across all five boroughs. In Brooklyn, fans spilled onto the sidewalk outside a bar to watch the game on television inside. A few doors away. fans gathered around a flat screen at a pizzeria. with someone having erected it in the trunk of a car.
For many, the Knicks’ moment carries a sense of history that’s hard to shrug off. The buzz in New York has grown so loud it has overwhelmed talk of the World Cup, which opens in a week.
Owen Odigie, celebrating Game 1 inside Madison Square Garden, put it simply. “Honestly, I just feel grateful to be here and experience the New York Knicks, doing what we haven’t done in a long time,” he said. “It’s special. It’s beautiful.”
The energy isn’t just staying in New York, either. Knick forward Karl-Anthony Towns—who hails from New Jersey—could feel the electricity from about 1,800 miles away in San Antonio following Game 1.
“You feel the energy in the city, the grit, the grind, the hard work you’ve got to put in to make it in the city,” Towns said. “I think we reflect all our fans … when we step on that court with a Knicks jersey.”
In San Antonio, the Knicks weren’t just represented by the usual faces. Celebrities associated with the franchise—Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan, Timothée Chalamet, and Ben Stiller—were on hand as well. But the crowd itself told the story: an estimated 20% of the fans in the arena were Knicks supporters.
Some of them made themselves heard during the national anthem, yelling “Let’s go, Knicks.”
Spurs guard Julian Champagnie, a native New Yorker, said he wasn’t shocked to see the travel and the noise.
“I kind of expected that,” Champagnie said. “I’m from New York. I know how New York fans travel and stuff like that, so I kind of expected that.”
Back home, the math has gotten even sharper. With prices at home soaring, Knicks fans found it could be reasonably cheaper to make the trip to San Antonio than to stay in New York—even after factoring in flight and lodging costs. Tickets for Game 1 started at around $750 on the secondary market.
Now the city waits for what comes next: Game 2 on Friday night in San Antonio, followed by Monday’s return to New York—when the price of a seat and the volume of a city that refuses to quiet down are likely to meet in the same place again.
Knicks Spurs NBA Finals Jalen Brunson Madison Square Garden Zohran Mamdani MTA Karl-Anthony Towns Julian Champagnie Owen Odigie New York frenzy Game 2 Game 3
7,500 is insane lol.
Wait so it’s the Spurs in the Finals but they’re playing in San Antonio? That’s like… the whole point of home court. Anyway good for the Knicks, I guess, but $7,500 for Game 3 is basically a scam.
Michael Jackson show?? That’s random. Like he’s just joking but then tickets go up anyway. Also the article says New York is on a 12-0 roll… is that like 12 wins in a row or 12 games total? I can’t keep up with basketball math.
Every corner becomes Finals territory and the MTA is painting stops Knicks colors… cool but also why do they always spend money like that when regular people can’t afford tickets? Seems like marketing to me. And if they’re rallying from a 14-point deficit then yeah they’re hot, but don’t act like ticket prices aren’t just greed, idk.