{"id":142282,"date":"2020-12-27T11:33:58","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T08:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/no-knicks-boos-makes-for-a-sobering-night-at-garden\/"},"modified":"2020-12-27T11:33:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T08:33:58","slug":"no-knicks-boos-makes-for-a-sobering-night-at-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/no-knicks-boos-makes-for-a-sobering-night-at-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"#No Knicks boos makes for a sobering night at Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#No Knicks boos makes for a sobering night at Garden<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Knicks center Mitchell Robinson intercepted a pass at the foul line intended for Joel Embiid, sprinted downcourt and slammed it down with ferocity. It completed a 9-0 run midway through the second quarter and put the Knicks up by five points against the 76ers.<\/p>\n

The fake Garden crowd went wild. The real crowd? There wasn\u2019t one.<\/p>\n

And in the end, when the Sixers had finished their expected butt-kicking of the Knicks, 109-89, maybe that was for the best \u2014 a day-after-Christmas blessing.<\/p>\n

The errant-shooting Knicks \u2014 lowlighted by RJ Barrett\u2019s 2-for-15 clunkfest \u2014 proved they can be as wretched without fans as with them. The Robinson steal-and-slam represented their last highlight of the evening.<\/p>\n

It was a surreal night at the empty Garden, a home opener far from its normal sell-out of 19,812.<\/p>\n

With fake noise pumped into an empty building, the pandemic hit home again as the Knicks\u2019 first official Garden game<\/a> since March 8 against the Pistons was contested sans the critical New York audience.<\/p>\n

The first fan-less Garden game featured the first jersey malfunction. With the Knicks wearing new black city-edition jerseys, Reggie Bullock received a reject. The front of his jersey contained his correct number of \u201c25.\u201d The back read \u201c23\u201d \u2014 Robinson\u2019s digits.<\/p>\n

\"Tom
Tom Thibodeau coached his first home game as the Knicks coach in an empty Madison Square Garden.<\/figcaption>
NBAE via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Late in the first quarter, Bullock darted to the sidelines to retrieve a corrected, all-25 jersey.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Knicks didn\u2019t correct enough of their other mistakes. Embiid owned the night with 27 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia. Stephen Curry\u2019s brother, Seth Curry, proved the best shooter on the floor, making 6 of 8 shots for 17 points for the Sixers while the Knicks shot 38.6 percent.<\/p>\n

This eerie Saturday night began 3 \u00bd hours before tip-off. Outside the Garden, there was construction on 33rd Street for the new glass Penn Station entranceway. There wasn\u2019t a Knicks jersey in sight.<\/p>\n

Inside, MSG Network\u2019s Mike Breen and Walt Frazier, Knicks beat writers and one Philly scribe were funneled to the adjacent Garden theater for COVID-19 tests. The small media<\/a> group was permitted to wait in the stands 45 minutes for results to come in.<\/p>\n

Once in the main arena, the scene was hard on the eyes. All the seats behind the baseline have been removed. In their place, in each end zone, a promotional Lexus vehicle stands on a platform. The 100-level seats are covered in blue tarp.<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t a celebrity row, but a handful of chairs placed 10 feet behind the sideline, according to NBA rules. Knicks president Leon Rose, senior VP William Wesley, general<\/a> manager Scott Perry and assistant GM Allan Houston occupied the seats.<\/p>\n

Spike Lee wasn\u2019t in attendance. Owner James Dolan wasn\u2019t in his customary seat behind the baseline adjacent to the Knicks bench, but instead in a vacant area in the 100-level on the opposite side of the benches. The upper levels were a sea of vacant blue seats.<\/p>\n

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