“I want to play a show at Madison Square Garden in New York, which is where the New York Knicks play. That’s what I want.”–William Beckett, lead singer, The AcademyNEW YORK — The New York Knicks’ colors are orange and blue. Their fans’ color, as Wednesday night turned into Thursday morning, was red.Red faces. Red hands. And sweat glistening on their faces. It was the same whether they were Black or White, male or female. Red — the blood having leapt north from various regions of bodies in the final, improbable seconds of Knicks 107, San Antonio Spurs 106, and having come to rest in their feral, screaming faces. Like those of the two guys who were still courtside, 20 minutes after OG Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in, screaming “OG, OG, OG,” into their phones, as “Still New York” by MAX and Joey Bada@$$ blasted on the speakers.They were the foot soldiers of Madison Square Garden, which had, in recent days, been surrounded by barriers outside with bulletproof glass assembled inside. The building went, in a manner of hours, from the “in” place for the Knicks’ most rabid fans to celebrate at watch parties just outside the doors, to a gantlet, separated from many of the team’s regular fans who come to games during the season, and separated by price and by police, local and federal.MSG, which brought so many together this season, especially during the Knicks’ incredible postseason run, was the epicenter of and victim to massive egos: the team’s owner, James Dolan; the city’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and President Donald Trump, who just had to come to Game 3 Monday, throwing off almost all of the good vibes that had surrounded the Knicks as they throttled the Hawks, 76ers and Cavaliers en route to the finals. Dolan and Mamdani feuded on social media about who was more to blame for the cancellation of a Game 4 watch party at MSG. The crazies had to find other places to craze.And, for 24 minutes Wednesday, Game 4 felt like a replay of Game 3. The Garden was silenced by the Spurs, who rained 3s on the seemingly hapless Knicks to take a 29-point first-half lead, and a 27-point lead into the half, all but assuring a 2-all tie going back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday. Celebrity Row brought lifeless claps as neither the A- nor D-listers could stir the deflated crowd.And then came a New York State of Mind.“What the f—,” Knicks guard Landry Shamet said. “That’s all I’ve got for you. What. The. F—?”The Knicks’ comeback, unlike any in the history of the finals, was a win for the city, which has waited, as you all must certainly know by now, 53 years for another NBA championship. It was also a win for the team, which has been challenged like never before in this postseason by the young and hungry Spurs. But, most improbably, it was a win for the fans fortunate enough to be wealthy enough to afford the ridiculous get-in prices. Many weren’t the building’s normal fans, but when it mattered most, they were as loud as Vinny from Passaic.The building, 58, and used to this by now, held the noise, amplified it, concentrating it on the road team, which was coming unglued in real time.