Knicks fans were heaving half-court shots to reach San Antonio ahead of New York’s potentially championship-clinching showdown with the Spurs after stormy weather canceled flights Friday.
Orange and blue-clad New Yorkers were ready to invade the second-rate Texas city for Saturday night’s Game 5 of the NBA Finals, but travel plans were thrown into chaos thanks to a raging thunderstorm that swept through the tristate area.
Brooklyn resident Toby Hyde was supposed to board a 5:33 p.m. flight to San Antonio from JFK Airport with a layover in Dallas until the plane was grounded, sending him scrambling for a backup plan.
“If the Knicks can come back from 29 down, an American can figure out how to get into Texas,” Hyde, 44, said in reference to the Knicks’ shocking Game 4 comeback at Madison Square Garden to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
“It’s a big state, I’ll be able to fly somewhere,” he added while decked out in a Marcus Camby jersey. “I’ll probably be driving from somewhere, hopefully through Austin but I’m willing to do Houston if it will get me there in time.”
He was eventually able to book a flight to Miami that is supposed to depart late Friday, then take off from the Sunshine State and reach Dallas by the morning and finally jet into San Antonio by early afternoon.
Another crew of Knicks supporters were set to fly from LaGuardia Airport to Dallas before their plans were rejected like a Mitchell Robinson block.
Now, five fans who bonded over the travel heartbreak were boarding a plane to Miami, which will connect to Austin before they drive the 80 miles to San Antonio.
“Now you see what Knicks fans endure,” one of the newly united fans, Eric Kwiatkowski, 40, told the Post.
Kwiatkowski’s friend, Ramy Fakhr, 44, will only have the clothes on his back after he checked his luggage for the canceled plane.
He didn’t have time to retrieve the suitcase before hurrying to the new flight.
“Now I have to spend the whole weekend without any clothes. This is all I’m wearing. Well, I’m gonna borrow some of Eric’s clothes,” said Fakhr.
But a chuckling Kwiatkowski cut in, “He’s not getting any of my clothes.”
Queens resident Joe P. and his pal also saw their travel plans run afoul after they were planning to fly into Dallas, then take a plane to Austin before driving the rest of the way.
The two friends bought tickets Thursday, but were still trying to figure out new travel arrangements.
“I have not been able to afford any of the tickets for the NBA finals in the Garden, because I think, it’s $10,000, $12,000 for nosebleeds now, so that’s a little bit out of my budget,” Joe said.
“It’s cheaper to go to San Antonio, and fly back then to go to the game in NY.”
The Jalen Brunson-led Knickerbockers could clinch the team’s first championship in more than 50 years as they take on the most hated man – or alien – in New York, Victor Wembanyama, and the Spurs.
The post Knicks fans scramble to find way to San Antonio for Game 5 after storm causes travel chaos appeared first on New York Post.
