In Photos: Fat Joe, Steve Schirripa & other celebrities spotted in attendance courtside for Knicks vs Pacers do-or-die Game 7
The stars are once again all over Madison Square Garden to support the New York Knicks in their crucial Game 7 matchup against the Indiana Pacers. Should the Knicks beat the Pacers in this win-or-go-home scenario, they will advance to their first-ever conference finals since 2000.
This is an exciting time for hoops fans in New York, so having all these celebrities in attendance is appropriate. Among the celebrities spotted in attendance are rapper Fat Joe, actor Steve Schirripa, tennis star John McEnroe and multi-faceted star Action Bronson.
The team rightfully acknowledged their presence by posting these celeb's images on their official Instagram account via IG stories. Take a look at the stars who are in attendance for Game 7.
Aside from these stars, Spike Lee is in attendance as usual. Former NBA All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire is in the building to support his former team and actor Chris Meloni from Law and Order is also present.
Stoudemire played in New York from 2010-2015 along with Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler.
Having several stars come out to support the Knicks is not something new as they also came out in full force to support their team in their opening-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Pacers outplayed the Knicks in the first half
So far, this do-or-die game between these two Eastern Conference rivals has not been close, and the Knicks are letting down the home fans.
New York started the game on the right foot, scoring the game's opening basket courtesy of a Jalen Brunson jumper. However, the Pacers counter immediately.
The visiting team took a 9-7 lead at the 9-and-a-half minute mark of the first quarter and have not looked back since. The Knicks kept the game close despite trailing for most of the opening quarter but the Pacers got hot and closed the first quarter with a 39-27 lead.
Fans saw more of the same in the second quarter as the Pacers kept scoring in bunches, causing their lead to grow beyond 20 points in one instance. New York was able to chip away at this lead and was able to narrow the gap to 15 by halftime (70-55).
If the New York Knicks hope to please their hometown fans and make their first conference finals appearance since 2000, they'll need to show a stronger effort in the second half.
However, this is made difficult by the numerous injuries that have hit them. Mitchell Robinson joined Bojan Bogdanovic on the list of players who are unavailable for Game 7 and OG Anunoby has been ruled out for the remainder of the game after only playing for five minutes.