Knicks fans returned to reveling.
Sure, Thursday night’s 111-94 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals only cut the Knicks’ series deficit to 3-2, but fans still used it as a reason to party outside of Madison Square Garden.
Chants of “Knicks in seven” boomed along a closed-off 7th Ave. as a few thousand fans congregated. Many formed mosh pits, while a few climbed atop the exterior of a subway entrance.
One fan made a pit stop on his drive from Charlotte to Boston just to celebrate outside of the Garden.
“I had that much faith that my team was gonna bust their a– tonight,” said Dennis Davis, 64, who was born in the Bronx.
Thursday’s scene was far more subdued than the Knicks fans’ raucous 7th Ave. takeover on May 16, which immediately followed a series-clinching victory over the Boston Celtics.
That was partly because NYPD approached Thursday with significantly less leeway, actively breaking up the crowd less than a half hour after the game ended.
Police funneled people through the open streets between the barricades that blocked off 7th Ave. As fans tried to restart the party on neighboring blocks, officers continued to shepherd the crowd, playing looped audio warning that anyone who did not cooperate would be subject to arrest.
The previous post-game gathering raged for well over an hour, with cops letting much more slide on a Friday night after the Knicks won a series rather than merely extending one.
But Thursday’s tightened-up tenor didn’t dampen the nights of Knicks fans who remain supremely optimistic that their team will be back on Monday for Game 7.
“The pope is a Knicks fan. Everything is coming together,” said a woman who asked to remain anonymous because she called out sick from work to attend Game 5.
Fans were denied a chance to celebrate after Games 1 and 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals because the Knicks lost both nights at the Garden.
But Jalen Brunson sent fans home happy after Game 5, scoring 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting. Thursday’s crowd chanted “MVP” as a street artist raised a painting of Brunson amid the mayhem.
Michael Balzano, 48, of Darien, Conn., navigated that crowd with his 10-year-old son, Gavin, on his shoulders.
“It’s important for him to experience how joyous New York is,” Balzano said. “Win or lose, we earned this. We earned this celebration. New York is resilient.”
The series became personal for many Knicks fans after Game 1, when Tyrese Haliburton capped a 17-point comeback with a game-tying buzzer beater to force overtime, then unleashed the choke taunt made famous by Reggie Miller in the same building back in 1994.
“You know what I want to get them back for? The choke thing,” Davis said, adding, “That was disrespectful. It was completely disrespectful.”
The Knicks are trying to become the 14th team in NBA history (out of 298) to come back from a 3-1 deficit. They seek to become the first team to win a conference finals after losing Games 1 and 2 at home.
Only 4.4% of the teams to fall behind 3-1 have come back, and only 16.1% have overcome a 3-2 deficit.
Despite the long odds, Knicks fans have faith. Game 6 is scheduled for Saturday night in Indianapolis.
“If they win Saturday night, I cannot see them losing Monday night at the Garden,” said Sean Smith, 46, of Crown Heights. “Game 7 at home. Come on, MSG? It comes down to the next night.”
