\n<\/p>\n
Call a New Yorker\u2014any New Yorker\u2014and ask them how things are going. They\u2019ll all tell you the same thing, even the Staten Islanders and people from New Jersey who claim the city as their own, as if everyone there has slipped into some kind of Pluribus<\/em> hive mind: We\u2019ve got Knicks fever. And there ain\u2019t no prescription for this disease.<\/p>\n But, if you\u2019re a Knicks fan<\/a> living outside the city right now, the FOMO is almost unbearable. Because this is more than just a playoff run. It\u2019s one of those rare cultural moments<\/a> New Yorkers will still be talking about 30 years from now.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish you were here for the playoffs\u201d my Uncle Jeff wrote me in a text message. \u201cIt\u2019s electric here.\u201d<\/p>\n Yeah, me too, Uncle Jeff. Me too.<\/p>\n Since I couldn\u2019t be at the historic Game 4 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, I\u2019ve spent today trying to piece together what it actually felt like inside the arena and out on the streets of New York. I\u2019ve been calling friends, family, and the celebrities who have taken on the role of Knicks mascots to talk about how they gained entry into the world\u2019s most famous arena, how much they paid for tickets and what it was like once they were there.<\/p>\n Jake Shane\u2014 born and raised in Manhattan\u2014 was sitting in a box with Tate McRae and Hailey Bieber when the Knicks clawed their way back from 29 points down. \u201cIt felt like I was witnessing history,\u201d Shane told me, recalling how even the ushers and concession workers stopped what they were doing to watch the comeback. By the time OG Anunoby hit the dagger with 1.2 seconds left in the game, Shane said he \u201cfell to the damn floor,\u201d overcome by the delirium spreading through the arena and eventually out into the streets of Manhattan, where \u201cevery single person\u201d seemed to be living through the exact same moment at once.<\/p>\n