The Knicks took a commanding 2-0 lead on Friday in the best of seven series against the San Antonio Spurs, and now the action shifts to the Big Apple for games three and four."The Knicks, this is New York at its very best right now," said John Patrick Walsh, 65, who comes from a family of fans."Everybody's a Knicks fan together. It's a huge family, it's all love," Walsh, a voice actor, told AFP near Madison Square Garden, the home of the Knicks. The streets around the Manhattan venue have become a rallying point for thousands of fans to cheer on their team, as celebrity superfans including Spike Lee, Timothee Chalamet and Ben Stiller applaud courtside."It's very energetic, very chaotic," said Melanie Mendoza, a waitress at the Bourbon and Branch, a bar not far from the iconic Garden that is fully decked out in the team's colors."Even if you don't know anything about basketball, you kind of get into that atmosphere, that vibe. People go crazy, basically."Outdoor watch parties around Madison Square Garden were initially banned during the NBA playoffs after multiple arrests during raucous celebrations, but will take place for the rest of the finals. 'The city's game'
A subway station near Madison Square Garden has been painted in Knicks blue and orange © TIMOTHY A.CLARY / AFP/File
