Knicks fans were seen brawling and destroying city property in New York City following their team’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
Chaos erupted during a watch party in Bryant Park, forcing police to deploy pepper spray as the brawl got out of control, with at least one rioter slugging an officer.
Video shared on social media showed the escalating tensions:
One video showed a crowd of Knicks fans assaulting a lone gathering of Spurs fans.
The riots come after the NYPD “reversed its ban on New York Knicks watch parties for the NBA Finals,” per Fox News. Problems immediately presented themselves following Game 2.
“Fans got so rowdy during the Knicks’ Eastern Conference Finals run the NYPD put a stop to watch parties outside Madison Square Garden. But when the Knicks clinched their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, the department said the party was back on,” noted Fox News.
“After the Knicks’ 105-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, ABC7 reported that 17 people were arrested, including one on charges of allegedly striking a police officer and injuring him,” noted Fox News. “Police said fans became “increasingly disorderly” as the game went on, the outlet reported.”
“The officer who was injured was the victim of punches by a fan who entered and then refused to leave a restricted area,” it added.