NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Inside Madison Square Garden, Spike Lee wore a Knicks jersey with Pope Leo\u2019s name on the back. On the concourse and the street, fans in blue and orange cheered and chanted. Watch parties sprung up all over the city, including one at a Brooklyn funeral home.<\/p>\n
Knicks fever<\/a> reached a new peak Monday night, with New York hosting Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Shouts of \u201cLet\u2019s go Knicks!\u201d and \u201cKnicks in four!\u201d were heard throughout midtown Manhattan, with spirits up even as tight security measures for the presence of President Donald Trump caused hours-long lines to get in. <\/p>\n With the Knicks in the finals for the first time since 1999 and leading the best-of-seven series 2-0,<\/a> their first home game this round was a hot ticket. The get-in price exceeded the average cost of rent in the biggest U.S. city.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is my son here, so taking him to the finals, you can\u2019t really put a price on the experience,\u201d said Greg Weldon, who flew in from Florida to attend a finals game as he did when New York won it all in 1970 and \u201973. \u201cIt\u2019s like that commercial: The tickets, ridiculous; the hassle getting in, ridiculous \u2014 the experience, priceless.\u201d<\/p>\n The cheapest upper-deck seats available were going for over $5,000 on resale platforms like StubHub, SeatGeek and VividSeats. The experience of being courtside goes for more than $75,000.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care who you are, that\u2019s a lot of money for a ticket,\u201d said guard Jose Alvarado, a New York native who was planning a viewing party in Brooklyn and pointed out his Queens high school also is hosting one. \u201cPeople that could afford it, we\u2019re grateful with them coming out, and it just shows you our team is really special and we\u2019re doing something here that hasn\u2019t been done in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n The Knicks were two victories from their first championship since \u201973, and the hoopla for Game 3 included the anticipated appearances of Trump<\/a> and Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Trump\u2019s presence led to the cancellation of a planned watch party<\/a> outside the arena, where fans have gathered throughout this playoff run that has included a 13-game winning streak.<\/p>\n \u201cHope has been brought back to the city,\u201d center Karl-Anthony Towns said. Teammate Josh Hart said \u201cit\u2019s going to be rocking\u201d but lamented the high cost just to get into The Garden.<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of wish the ticket prices weren\u2019t as crazy as they are,\u201d Hart said. \u201cI feel like a lot of people who have been waiting for this moment for a very long time unfortunately aren\u2019t able to get into the building.\u201d<\/p>\n No team has gone up 2-0 in the NBA Finals on the road and not won the series.<\/p>\n \u201cThey win this game, it\u2019s kind of over, so this is the game to be at,\u201d Weldon said. <\/p>\n The possibility of a sweep drove ticket prices up to over $10,000 apiece over the weekend, and the price is about the same for an if-necessary Game 6.<\/p>\n Fewer than 20,000 people will get the opportunity to attend each night. Alvarado knows far more will be watching on television all over.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people that can\u2019t afford it, we improvise,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re New Yorkers. We\u2019re going to find a way to watch a game, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press writer Philip Marcelo contributed to this report. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n