The 76ers are doing everything possible to prevent another Knicks takeover at their own home arena – Wells Fargo Center.
Game 4 saw an embarrassing number of New York fans take the trip to Philly and make their presence known.
This didn’t go unnoticed by 76ers management and owners.
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin shared on X that he and the team’s governors, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, have bought up to 2,000 tickets and are giving them away to select Sixers fans for Game 6.
“Josh Harris, David Blitzer,@david_adelman and I just bought more than 2,000 tix for Sixers Game 6 – we absolutely CANNOT let Knicks fans take over our arena again!!! Giving them to first responders, health care professionals and other local Philadelphia-based organizations once we know they’re legit Sixers fans and not imposters!! 😂 Let’s go Sixers – we can do this!!,” he wrote.
There were so many Knicks fans at Game 4 that it prompted big man Joel Embiid to call his own fans out.
“Disappointing,” Embiid said. “I love our fans. I think it’s unfortunate. I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing. Obviously you’ve got a lot of Knicks fans, and they’re down the road, but I’ve never seen it. I’ve been here 10 years.
“It kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town. They’ve always shown up and I don’t think that should happen. It’s not okay.”
It has been the total opposite situation at Madison Square Garden, as the Knicks fans have made it a fortress.
Before tip of of Game 5, they were chanting ‘F**k Embiid’ and the small numbers of 76ers fans were not doubt cowering in their seats.
That was until Tyrese Maxey lifted Philly to a major upset win.
For his part, Embiid embraced the hostility.
“It’s not hostile — I love New York — New York is my favorite city in the world,” Embiid told reporters after the 76ers’ 112-106 Game 5 win. “I have a place here for the past five years. I just love New York. The fans, when you play against a team, there’s always going to be ‘that guy,’ and they seem to have picked me, which is fine. I love it. If I got to be the punching, and you hear a lot of, ‘F Embiid,’ that’s okay, I love it.”