Pain, Pride, and Patrick Ewing

With each passing win on the New York Knicks’ march through the NBA playoffs, the celebrations in New York are intensifying. On Friday, after the Knicks stole a commanding 2-0 lead against the San Antonio Spurs, the pandemonium hit a new level. The watch parties inside and outside Madison Square Garden spilled onto Seventh Avenue. Brooms were swept, belts were whipped, billboards were climbed. Dozens of arrests were made. Even beyond the Sidetalk hopefuls reaching for virality in Midtown Manhattan, New Yorkers across the five boroughs watched and reveled at bars, sidewalks, clubs, cinemas, concerts, and parks. Spike Lee paraded through Fort Greene like the pope parting a sea of faithful supporters outside the Vatican. The sound of the cheers carried all the way across the Hudson.