Knicks Fan Rich Gloats over New York’s “Crushing Sweep” of the Philadelphia 76ers

Rich is a Knicks fan. The Knicks just swept the 76ers by 30 points in Philadelphia, in the last game of a sweep that also broke the franchise scoring record. He used the entire segment to enjoy himself.

Final: 144 to 114. The Knicks shot 11 of 14 from three in the first quarter and 18 from deep in the first half. The lowest plus-minus among Knicks starters belonged to Karl-Anthony Towns, who was plus-23. Every other Knicks starter was plus-30 or better.

"It's written," Rich said. "It's already done. Wrap."

His favorite play of the night was a Jalen Brunson up-and-under on Joel Embiid that ended with Embiid on the floor. Brunson hit the deep three on the next possession. The cameras caught a row of Knicks fans behind the basket losing their minds, in Philadelphia, in the playoffs.

That was the recurring bit of the night. The 76ers ran a "geotagging" ticket program designed to keep New York fans out of the building. It did not work. Mitchell Robinson dunked on Embiid earlier in the series. Fans in the building Sunday brought printed-out pictures of that dunk to wave behind Embiid at the free-throw line. Embiid hit his free throws anyway. The optics, Rich said, were exactly the point.

"Everybody in the front row just staring into the abyss of an off-season looks like they live in Philadelphia," Rich said. "And everybody from the second row on back looks like they don't."

Mike Brown took the podium after the game and tipped his cap to the Knicks fans who showed up in Philly. Rich's reaction was warm, then immediately careful.

"Be very, very careful," he said. He pointed to a Charles Barkley comment from Inside the NBA about how every one of those same New York fans was calling for Tom Thibodeau's head two weeks ago when the Knicks were down 2-1 to the Hawks.

"It can change in a New York minute," Rich said.

Josh Hart and Mike Brown both used the postgame podium to take a shot at Philadelphia's sports town reputation. Brown said he used to think Philly was a sports town and isn't sure anymore. Tyrese Maxey, by contrast, looked beaten. He gave a postgame answer that was honest and tired. The only way to keep visiting fans out, Maxey said, was for the home team to win.

Rich pointed at one other Philadelphia subplot. The Venn diagram between Philadelphia 76ers fans and Philadelphia Eagles fans is, as Rich put it, large. Karl-Anthony Towns is making a lot of people who agree with each other across two sports very unhappy.

The Knicks now get a week off. The conversation has flipped from last year's complaint that the team ran out of gas in the Eastern Conference Finals to a roster nine deep, with no starter playing over 30 minutes in the closeout game. Jordan Clarkson, José Alvarado, Landry Shamet, and Mitchell Robinson are all available in real minutes.

"When were they ever nine deep with Thibodeau?" Rich asked. The answer was never.

He gave Knicks fans one warning before sign-off. There is a 50/50 chance that the team they have to beat is Oklahoma City. The Knicks have won seven playoff games in a row, by an average of 24.5 points. The only other team in the league currently running off seven straight wins is the Thunder.

"Halfway home," Rich said.