sports
Knicks Lead Spurs 3-1; Spurs Host Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio
New York City declared a Gridlock Alert for overlapping events including the Knicks watch parties, a World Cup match, and a concert. Security measures and street closures are in place across Manhattan.
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The New York Knicks hold a 3-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals and will play Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio. The Knicks have recorded 14 wins in 15 games since April 23, 2026. Brazil will play Morocco in a World Cup match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with kickoff about three hours before the Knicks tipoff.
New York City has declared a Gridlock Alert for Saturday because of the overlapping events. A concert by the Australian pop band 5 Seconds of Summer at Madison Square Garden is expected to draw 15,000 to 20,000 people. The Knicks will hold a watch party outside Madison Square Garden for up to 3,000 fans, with advanced registration required and police screening for all attendees.
Additional watch parties are scheduled at Radio City Music Hall and Wollman Rink in Central Park. Tickets for the Radio City event were sold on the Knicks website for a $10 donation to the Garden of Dreams charity, while the Garden and Wollman Rink events are free.
For Game 4 on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, the Knicks received a permit for a watch party of up to 1,000 people outside Madison Square Garden.
Team owner James Dolan declined to hold that event. Security restrictions including a perimeter, metal detectors and other measures remain in effect for Game 5 following President Donald Trump’s visit to Game 3 on Monday. Streets on 32nd and 33rd adjacent to Madison Square Garden will be closed to vehicle traffic starting at noon on Saturday and used as queues for Penn Station trains to the World Cup.
They will reopen three hours after the match ends. Some streets around the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey are closed and certain streets including 42nd Street are converted to bus-only corridors. Street closures and limited access to parts of Penn Station are in effect for each of the eight World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium.
New York City last hosted a World Cup game in the area 32 years prior to Saturday’s match. During and after Game 4, crowds outside Madison Square Garden swelled to about 10,000 people, the NYPD said. At least 10 NYPD officers were injured, including one hit in the head with a glass bottle.
