NEW YORK, June 11 — Pop diva Taylor Swift was courtside at Madison Square Garden to cheer on the New York Knicks in game four of the NBA Finals yesterday.
The 14-time Grammy award-winner, sporting a blue and orange Knicks T-shirt with the slogan “Stevie Knicks,” upped the already considerable star power as she joined longtime Knicks fans like film director Spike Lee and actor Ben Stiller in the crowd.
The appearance came a day after her surprise performance in Los Angeles at the world premiere of the movie Toy Story 5, for which she wrote a song.
And it came at the same iconic arena where it’s rumoured her wedding to NFL player Travis Kelce will take place next month.
The Knicks’ bid for a first NBA title since 1973 — against a young Spurs team featuring French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama — has galvanised New York and captured the attention of sports fans across the United States.
The Knicks’ victories in the first two games in San Antonio fueled feverish excitement among their fans.
The Spurs clawed back a game on Monday at Madison Square Garden — where US President Donald Trump was roundly booed as he attended the last game as a guest of Knicks owner James Dolan.
That game was the most-watched NBA Finals game three since 1998, the year of icon Michael Jordan’s last Finals, according to figures released by the Nielsen media research company.
The game averaged 23.8 million viewers and peaked at 26.3 million late in the fourth quarter, Nielsen said yesterday.
That’s the largest television audience since Super Bowl 60 on February 8.
Swift isn’t a new Knicks fan. Born in neighbouring Pennsylvania, she has attended other Knicks games since moving to New York in 2014.
Three weeks ago, she and Kelce attended a Knicks playoff game against the Cavaliers in Cleveland — a win for the Knicks to the frustration of Ohio-born Kelce. — AFP
“The world will stand still, and the eyes of the world will be focused on North America,” the 56-year-old Swiss president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, said a few days ago from the United Nations headquarters in New York. With four days to go before the ball starts rolling, the three host countries — the United States, Mexico, and Canada — say they have everything ready. Or, more precisely, almost everything. The biggest soccer tournament in history — 48 national teams playing a total of 104 matches — takes place amid various circumstances that complicate organization: the United States remains at war with Iran, President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies are frightening away many supporters, and FIFA’s dynamic-pricing ticket system has put seats out of reach for much of the fan base.
© Jeffrey McWhorter (EFE)
SAN ANTONIO, June 14 — The New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 90-94 on Saturday to claim their first NBA championship since 1973.
Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 45 points as the Knicks closed out the best-of-seven NBA Finals in five games, just days after completing the greatest comeback seen in the championship round.
The Spurs started strong once again and held several double-digit leads all night, but the Knicks crawled back and finally took their first lead with 3:40 left to play.
The Spurs were unable to come back and the Knicks capped off a dominant championship run that saw them lose just three games in the postseason. — Reuters
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