Perhaps no person better captured the agonizing final minutes of the Knicks’ comeback victory in Game 4 of the N.B.A. finals on Wednesday night than the comedian Larry David, who was seated courtside at Madison Square Garden.
When the Knicks cut the San Antonio Spurs’ lead to 4 points late in the fourth quarter, the television broadcast showed Mr. David unusually emotional. He was smiling, raising his arms and dapping up fellow Knick fans.
Minutes later, with New York down just 1 point, Knicks guard Josh Hart missed an easy shot, squandering a chance at the lead. Mr. David staggered and nearly fell to the ground, clutching the arm of the tennis great John McEnroe beside him in a Knicks jersey and hat.
After the game, a 1-point victory secured, Mr. David was beaming once more.
For hours, there had been little reason for Knicks fans to smile. Their beloved team, starved for a title, looked certain to lose, quelling the good vibes that had engulfed the city in recent weeks.
Things quickly changed.
The Knicks mounted the biggest comeback in N.B.A. finals history, led by star players Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby. But perhaps as remarkable as the swing itself was the change in the mood of fans across New York.
Inside the Garden, celebrities like Spike Lee, Taylor Swift and Timothée Chalamet danced near their courtside seats. Their expressions were of stunned disbelief. An hour or so earlier, fans inside the Garden couldn’t even be cheered up by a special halftime performance by the Wu-Tang Clan.
Outside the arena, New Yorkers who had gathered in bars and on the street jumped for joy. The de facto party block for revelers had become West 35th Street, with crowds pressed against bar windows to watch the game inside.
Drinks were spilled. Some people climbed trucks and destroyed property. Others ambled atop scaffolding. On an uptown A train, a jubilant fan wearing a Latrell Sprewell Knicks jersey cranked out pull-ups on the overhead handrail in honor of the winning team.
On Thursday morning, the Police Department said that as the game went on, crowds near the arena grew “increasingly destructive.”
Early on, as the Spurs built a big lead, Knicks fans inside Madison Square Garden groaned in disbelief. They blamed the referees. They begged their team to grab a rebound.
The tide turned in the second half, when Mr. Brunson and Mr. Anunoby made the crowd roar louder and louder with every made basket. The stadium felt like it was rattling. An earthquake of joy and anticipation.
Then, the final play. A shot from Mr. Brunson missed, but Mr. Anunoby soared in to tip the ball through the net. The winning points. The end of the agony. And the beginning of a nightlong celebration.
Wesley Parnell contributed reporting.
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