Knicks fans showed up at Wells Fargo Center in force on Sunday afternoon and made their presence known while their team took a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Loud chants of “MVP! MVP!” rained down on Jalen Brunson as he set a Knicks playoff record with 47 points in the win for New York. Knicks fans called out “Deuce!” when Miles “Deuce” McBride knocked down a 3-pointer.
“I love our fans but it was unfortunate. I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing," Joel Embiid said, adding that he's aware that Knicks fans often make the short train trip for the road games.
Sixers fans tried to drown out the chants with boos, but the presence of Knicks fans was palpable.
“The Philadelphia fanbase is — I said this before — they’re very relentless and very passionate. I mean, I’m an Eagles fan. I would know,” said Brunson, who won two national championships playing collegiately for Villanova. “But seeing the Knicks here and hearing the Knicks here, it was pretty cool and it’s awesome.”
Not for Embiid, who had to hear Brunson get louder chants of “MVP! MVP!” than the guy who actually won the award last season.
"I’ve never seen it [like Sunday], and I’ve been here for 10 years," he said. "Yeah, it kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town. They’ve always shown up. I don’t think that should happen.
“Yeah, it’s not OK.”
The Knicks, coming off their most successful regular season in 11 years, have captured New York City in 2024, leading many fans to take the short trip down the Turnpike and invade South Philly. They celebrated outside the arena after the 97-92 victory, needing just one more win to bounce the Sixers and advance to the conference semifinals for the second straight season.