NEW YORK — In the service area here at Madison Square Garden, after it was all over, the world’s biggest pop icon was being whisked toward the tinted Chevy Suburban that would wheel her out into the thick night.
By this point, thousands of fans had already spilled back into the streets for a rave in orange and royal blue.
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As Taylor Swift approached the truck, the expression on her face was caught between wonder and exuberance. Shaking her head in disbelief, she mouthed, seemingly to no one: What just happened?
About 200 feet away, San Antonio Spurs coach Mitch Johnson was trying to explain how his team had wasted a 29-point lead to become an inglorious footnote in NBA Finals history. And on the other end of that were the New York Knicks, who authored the largest comeback in Finals history to go up 3-1 in the series, on the cusp of the franchise’s first championship in 53 seasons.
This was, when considering the stakes, undeniably the greatest game in the storied history of the Knicks.
Johnson was in a makeshift press room. Makeshift because it wasn’t a room at all, but rather a wedge of hallway carved out of black cloth room dividers. There was no door to speak of, and the exultant cries still coming from Knicks fans were so loud that his microphone picked them up.
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Seventy-five feet from there, underneath the tunnel that feeds to the court, Knicks superfan and actor Ben Stiller was trying to make his way toward the New York interview room. Stiller is reportedly shooting footage for an HBO documentary about the Knicks and has been a staple at the team’s postgame press conferences.
Stiller could not get very far; members of the Knicks hype squad started shouting “We love Ben” over and over until Stiller joined the mob in an impromptu mosh pit.
Seconds later, Timothée Chalamet joined in.
In the upper and lower bowls, thousands of fans had chosen to bask in the revelry a little longer. Fittingly, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” was pumping through the speaker system. Those who stayed were dancing and belting the chorus, snapping selfies and FaceTiming jealous loved ones. It was unrestrained jubilance in the collective, a catharsis for a fan base deprived of an NBA title for 53 seasons.
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Somehow, it felt spiritual; this was their mecca, and they were gathered in worship.
Down the corridor back toward Tower C, Knicks coach Mike Brown was holding his press conference, where he called the game-winning tip-in from OG Anunoby “the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball.”
He reflected but acknowledged the need to close the series out. He humbly praised the grit and resilience of his players. Yet, as much as he tried to restrain his emotions, he, too, got caught up in the
“Fat Joe is just sitting there with all his chains on, and every time he jumped up, the freaking lights with those chains, they blinded me, so it was a little hard (to see),” Brown said. “Fat Joe, keep wearing the chains, because you look smooth.
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“But you can’t replace this crowd, man. The building’s already electric, but during a run like that, to see, you know, people like Fat Joe and all the others just enjoying themselves at a basketball game – you know, just being human, jumping up and down, high-fiving, screaming, the vibe is just – it’s hard to describe, and the energy in the crowd had a lot to do with our comeback, too. It was fantastic. Unbelievable.”
As Brown left the press room and worked his way back toward the Knicks locker room, a procession of people congratulated him. From long-time beat reporters to a Madison Square Garden staffer (“great adjustments, Mike”) to former Knick Iman Shumpert (“great [expletive] win”), Brown brought hope back to this fan base.
Shumpert, who wore his own Knicks jersey though he last played for the team in 2014, then said, to no one in particular, that he was “going to turn up on 7th Ave.” He was a man of his word.
A pair of former Knicks paraded toward the exit, and the communal celebration of fans continued to steadily thrum throughout the building.
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“One more,” Marcus Camby said to Latrell Sprewell, referring to the final game the Knicks need to win.
Back in the Knicks press room, the current players had that very thought in mind.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat this: I was about to cry, not because – obviously there is one more – but I’m at Madison Square Garden, end of the fourth quarter, playing with these guys, and we’re playing for something special,” Knicks guard Jose Alvarado.
“I was just – I was just excited. It’s really something I couldn’t put into words. And like I said, we could get excited and enjoy this, but we got one more to do.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inside Madison Square Garden for greatest game in Knicks history
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