Hawks (5) @ Knicks (4) - Playoffs Round 1 - Game 1 - SUNDAY May 23 - 7:00pm

[Stannis]

90% in attendance occupancy, all vaccinated. Insane. Make it 100% imo.

[waya]

First playoff game I'll be attending, couldn't be more excited

[GONYK]

Hoping for Payton to play well but i feel like i have a better chance of winning the lottery

I'd honestly settle for him just playing the defense he keeps getting credit for.

[Jalen Bluntson]

90% in attendance occupancy, all vaccinated. Insane. Make it 100% imo.

There is no vaccine.

[3toheadmelo]

Read on Twitter

[Zenzibar]

No disrespect but it's not happening. Thibs isn't inserting a new guy at this stage or expelling the guy everybody wants to expel.

True. At the same time Luca is a Euro MVP. But the experience of being in this intense atmosphere in Thibs' practices, preparation etc, is something the Rose Team values for his development.

He definitely is here ASAP to soak everything up, but I'm pretty sure that if he is legit he can step in during the playoffs and get some spot minutes as a back-up. I know some coaches don't want to risk ruining a guy's confidence if things don't go well as such a crucial time, but I think you can do 3 minutes and sit him just to get a read on his pulse. If he is lit and ready from the git go you'll learn it immediately. If not, you don't worry about it for now.

Nate McMillan is already feeling the heat in playing New York, talking out of step regarding the NBA/Knicks.

Now his staff has to scout and plan for Luca, just...in....case... Thibs does the unthinkable. It adds to their coaching staff's workload.

Great strategy all around.

[Zenzibar]

90% in attendance occupancy, all vaccinated. Insane. Make it 100% imo.

Not all in attendance will be vaccinated my Guy. Check out the guidelines.

"On the day of the event, all guests will complete a health screening that includes a contactless temperature check upon arrival that must register below 100.4 degrees and providing proof of full vaccination, or a negative antigen COVID-19 test, or a negative PCR COVID-19 test, along with an appropriate ID matching the ..."

[ag3]

90% in attendance occupancy, all vaccinated. Insane. Make it 100% imo.

Not all in attendance will be vaccinated my Guy. Check out the guidelines.

"On the day of the event, all guests will complete a health screening that includes a contactless temperature check upon arrival that must register below 100.4 degrees and providing proof of full vaccination, or a negative antigen COVID-19 test, or a negative PCR COVID-19 test, along with an appropriate ID matching the ..."

90% of the seats are vaccinated only.
10% are not.

The 10% will have to wear masks and social distance.

[ag3]

90% in attendance occupancy, all vaccinated. Insane. Make it 100% imo.

There is no vaccine.

LMAO. There literally are 2 vaccines with a 94%+ efficacy, which is better than both Mumps and Rubella vaccines.
Most vaccines are 90-95% efficacy and some are even lower. Rubella is about 80%.

[3toheadmelo]

Haven’t seen MSG like this in so long

Watch on YouTube

[ag3]

I hope people didnt buy seats in vaccinated sections thinking they wont have to show proof of vaccination. 100% you do.
Get the NY Excelsior pass or bring your CDC card with you. And you need to be 14 days past dose 2.

[Zenzibar]

Nice article:

https://nypost.com/2021/05/21/knicks-fans-deserve-this-2021-nba-playoff-moment/

It is quite possible, over the last two decades, that no consumer group had been used and abused like Knicks fans. Those fans not only were forced to watch loserville basketball one mind-numbing season after another, but also they were forced to watch while knowing the game’s greats would love to perform regularly on their stage.

If only the Knicks had a roster, coach, front office and owner worth signing up for.

Knicks fans deserve this moment, and this program coach Tom Thibodeau is just now starting to build. He is one of them, of course, an old Knicks fan from Connecticut who doesn’t need much prompting to reminisce about the 1970 and ’73 championship teams of his youth. On a Zoom call with reporters Thursday, Thibodeau started rattling off the names of Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley before running a fast break to Patrick Ewing, Oak, Starks, Allan and Spree — the players he coached with Van Gundy in the 1990s. But in the end, with the old Knicks, it always comes back to the fans.

“We know what basketball means to the city,” Thibodeau said, “so hopefully we can give them something to be proud of.”

They already have, by going 41-31 in a season the oddsmakers figured would end at 22-50. The Knicks did it with the kind of grit New Yorkers show in their everyday lives, connecting team and city even as the pandemic cut the Garden crowds down to size. Thibodeau’s team is as likable as any that Van Gundy or Pat Riley put on the floor.

Why? The time was right to have a Knicks fan answer that question. So I asked the most passionate one I know, a 47-year-old Manhattan resident named Peter Storm, whose father took him to his first Garden game at age 2, what made this team and this season so special to the fans.

“They’re easy to root for because they’re the hardest-working team in the league. What I love about Thibs is that he’s always prepared. My issue with the Derek Fishers and David Fizdales and Jeff Hornaceks was that their Knicks never looked prepared. So for me, to plan my life around watching Knicks games again is a really nice feeling, because for the last 20 years I haven’t been able to do that.”

Storm’s father was such an obsessive Knicks fan, he put his son in nursery school where the team practiced at Pace University, just so they could occasionally bump into Frazier and Earl Monroe. Storm attended Ewing’s Game 7 victory over the Pacers in the 1994 Eastern Conference finals, and some Linsanity games, but the loudest he ever heard the Garden was May 16, 1997, when the Knicks barely had enough bodies to play Game 6 against Miami after the suspensions of Ewing, Allan Houston and Charlie Ward, and still pushed the Heat to the brink.

Thibodeau was there that night, in his first season with the Knicks. Nearly a quarter century later, this time as head coach, he has handed the fans another golden opportunity to roar.

“The Garden is such a special place,” he said, “not only to us but to everyone in the NBA. … We want to make sure we’re giving [the fans] everything we have.”

We're here....dam.

[Zenzibar]

90% in attendance occupancy, all vaccinated. Insane. Make it 100% imo.

Not all in attendance will be vaccinated my Guy. Check out the guidelines.

"On the day of the event, all guests will complete a health screening that includes a contactless temperature check upon arrival that must register below 100.4 degrees and providing proof of full vaccination, or a negative antigen COVID-19 test, or a negative PCR COVID-19 test, along with an appropriate ID matching the ..."

90% of the seats are vaccinated only.
10% are not.

The 10% will have to wear masks and social distance.

AH no. The story is that 90% of the tickets sold, 90% show vaccinated. It isn't a mandate of MSG.

But whatever.
Glad the Team will be able to feel the legendary energy of the Garden.

BTW:
Nets not selling tickets too well.

"The price breaks the Nets are offering are quite significant. For instance, as of Thursday afternoon, the cheapest seat available in section 226, an unvaccinated section, was selling for $370 each. In a vaccinated section very close by (section 228), tickets were selling for just $145 each. "

Meanwhile


Knicks fans are roasting the Nets for struggling to sell playoff tickets

Andy Nesbitt
May 20, 2021 1:49 pm ET
Basketball fans in New York City are fired for the NBA playoffs to start this weekend.

Well, Knicks fans seemed to be really excited. Brooklyn Nets fans seem to be a different story.

The Knicks are back in the playoffs for the first time the 2012-13 season and sold out their first-round home games against the Hawks in like 20 minutes.

The Nets, powered by Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, have the No. 2 seed in the East and could very well end up playing for a title. But it seems like they’re having a tough time selling tickets because they’re currently using Harden to help push tickets… and to help pay for those tickets.

[Deeeez Knicks]

Hoping for Payton to play well but i feel like i have a better chance of winning the lottery

I'd honestly settle for him just playing the defense he keeps getting credit for.

Yea I would take anything positive from him.

[RHODEY]

You gotta believe those 15k fans will provide a HUGE energy boosts for our guys. When was the last time the garden was @90%?
And for it to happen in the first game of a playoff series, in a city that hasn't sniffed the playoffs in seven years?

[Zenzibar]

Read on Twitter

Goose bumps!!!!

[Knicksfan1992]

First playoff game I'll be attending, couldn't be more excited

Same bro. Going to be so lit.

[Jalen Bluntson]

90% in attendance occupancy, all vaccinated. Insane. Make it 100% imo.

There is no vaccine.

LMAO. There literally are 2 vaccines with a 94%+ efficacy, which is better than both Mumps and Rubella vaccines.
Most vaccines are 90-95% efficacy and some are even lower. Rubella is about 80%.

Vaccines provide immunity.

[thecampster]

Hello Knicks faithful, Hawks fan here and wanted to pop in and give you a friendly good luck.

In typical form, most boards are homerish in nature so I wanted to post something here I posted in one of our forums to give you something to gnaw on (not trying to start something, just giving you something to discuss). Much like I'm less familiar with your team (learned a lot reading through this thread), there are nuances of our season you might not be as familiar with. The Hawks have been been one of the most injured teams all season. The Hawks lost over 125 more man games to injury this year than the Knicks. They were the 4th most injured team in the league and the only division winner with more than 150 (we had almost 300)

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/photo/1.

Below is that summary of our 3 meetings I posted.

"Things to keep in mind about the head to head matchup this season

Jan 4th - Capela's 5th game as a Hawk was still getting his wind. No Gallo, No Snell, No LouWill (or Rondo), BB still recovering

Feb 15th - No Hunter, no BB, no Snell, no Lou Will (or Rondo), no Reddish, OO just activated.

Apr 21st - No Hunter, no Snell, no Gallo, no Reddish (Young, Capela both injured in the game, Young was recovering - only 9 played in an OT game)."

Again, not trying to start something. I like your squad and believe we'll both be top seeds moving forward. Good luck, have fun discussing.

FYI, Hawks are still not 100%. Reddish is still out while his Achilles recovers and their backup point guard (no huge loss) Brandon Goodwin is out with a lung infection (not Covid). We will be backup point guard by committee unless Dunn finally gets his legs back (his first few games as a Hawk he was very foot slow).

[Gravy]

Instant win

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