The 76ers might have done everything they could to keep Knicks fans out of Wells Fargo Arena Thursday, but it was Knicks fans who had the last laugh.
Knicks fans didn’t take over Wells Fargo Center.
But they took away the win.
Amidst chants of “Let’s go Knicks! Let’s go Knicks!” down the stretch, the visitors pulled out a come-from-behind 118-115 first-round Game 6 victory that eliminated Philadelphia — and gave their fans the right to celebrate. And gloat.
No, it wasn’t anywhere near as glaring as Games 3 and 4, where they overran Wells Fargo Center.
The sight of all that orange and blue, and the sounds of all those loud New Yorkers had so embarrassed Philadelphia that star Joel Embiid understandably chastised his own fanbase.
“Disappointed. I love our fans. I think it’s unfortunate — and I’m not calling them out — but it is disappointing,” Embiid had said.
“Obviously you got a lot of Knicks fans, they’re down the road. I’ve never seen it, and I’ve been here for 10 years. Yeah, it kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town. They’ve always shown up. I don’t think that should happen. Yeah, it’s not OK.”
The Sixers organization made calls to their season ticket holders over the prior two days, asking them to show up and be loud according to TNT.
And the 76ers current and past ownership bought out thousands of tickets to hand out to locals, trying to avoid a repeat.
