President Donald Trump was booed at Madison Square Garden before the Knicks lost Game 3 to the Spurs, ending New York’s 13-game playoff win streak.
President Donald Trump was met with loud boos at Madison Square Garden on Monday night before the New York Knicks’ first home NBA Finals game in 27 years, a high-security visit that preceded a 115-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
The defeat cut New York’s series lead to 2-1 and ended a 13-game playoff winning streak. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday night at the Garden, where the Knicks will try to regain momentum after opening the Finals with two road wins in San Antonio.
Trump was shown on the arena video board during the national anthem alongside Knicks owner James Dolan in Dolan’s suite. CNBC reported that the jeers shifted to cheers when the screen moved to Knicks star Jalen Brunson on the court.
Asked afterward about the reception, Trump disputed the characterization. “It was mostly cheers. It was loud, and it was very enthusiastic,” he told a reporter, adding that the game was “fantastic” and “well played by both teams.”
Trump’s appearance made him the first sitting U.S. president to attend an NBA Finals game, according to CNBC. It also turned Game 3 into a convergence of sports, security and politics at a moment when Knicks fans were celebrating the franchise’s first Finals game at Madison Square Garden since 1999.
The visit brought tighter entry procedures around the arena. Before the game, the Knicks warned fans to expect a no-bag policy and “TSA-style screening procedures,” urging ticket holders to arrive at least two hours early. CNBC reported that some fans waited two hours or more to enter after security screening.
Watch parties in the area around Madison Square Garden were canceled, and the New York Police Department set up a broad security perimeter in the surrounding blocks. CNBC reported that Trump’s motorcade passed protest signs on the way to the arena and was booed by some people outside the Garden, while others waved American flags.
The president’s planned attendance had already drawn objections from some Knicks fans, including those who feared the visit would disrupt the mood around a playoff run that had become one of the franchise’s biggest moments in decades. The Knicks entered Monday with the second-longest playoff winning streak in NBA history, according to CNBC.
The Finals return to New York also came with steep prices. Before Game 3, Knicks guard Josh Hart called the ticket costs “ridiculous,” saying many longtime fans were being priced out of the building. Fox News reported that secondary-market get-in prices had reached as high as $10,000 over the weekend before dropping later.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver defended Trump’s right to attend, saying before the game that the president was welcome and that sports can offer common ground at a divided moment. Silver was later seen speaking with Trump in Dolan’s suite.
Trump was joined in the suite by family members and administration officials, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sat courtside. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and several celebrities, including Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Timothée Chalamet, Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, were also at the game.
For the Knicks, the immediate issue is now basketball rather than the political scene around Game 3. New York still controls the series, but San Antonio’s win ensured the Spurs will return to the Garden on Wednesday with a chance to even the Finals.
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