The Sixers are trying to ensure home-court advantage for Game 6 vs. the Knicks. Here’s their plan.
Fans have reported that the Sixers box office asked fans calling to purchase tickets if they were coming to support the home team, in an effort to prevent another Knicks takeover.
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Knicks fans took over the Wells Fargo Center during Game 4 against the Sixers — to the chagrin and embarrassment of many in Philadelphia. Now, it seems like every high-profile former Sixer or Sixers fan is hopping in to ensure that never happens again.
Even before Wednesday’s announcement from Sixers ownership that they’ll buy 2,000 tickets to distribute to local Philadelphia first responders and community groups, famous fans like Dawn Staley and Lil Dicky were on X, formerly Twitter, encouraging fans not to sell their tickets. Coach Nick Nurse also urged fans to support the team on Thursday night.
“I’d say we all can do better, right?” Nurse told reporters Wednesday. “I think we deserve better. … We need everybody’s support, man. For sure. I think the team’s playing its guts out.”
After Game 5 on TNT, Charles Barkley called out Knicks fans ahead of Game 6.
“If y’all come down to Philly with that damn racket Thursday night, there’s gonna be some repercussions and some consequences!” Barkley said. “Y’all better not come down to Philly with that damn racket.”
» READ MORE: Sixers owners partner with Fanatics’ Michael Rubin to purchase 2,000 tickets for Philly fans
Shaquille O’Neal chipped in to tell Barkley that “you know they’re going.”
Fans have reported that the Sixers box office asked fans calling to purchase tickets if they were coming to support the home team.
There were also ticket-buying trends in the resale market. According to TickPick, 34% of ticket buyers on their site for the game are from Pennsylvania, 24% are from New York, 18% from New Jersey, and 7% from Delaware.
» READ MORE: After Game 4′s New York invasion, Dawn Staley urges Sixers fans not to sell their Game 6 tickets
New Jersey spans both South Jersey, where fans are more likely to root for the Sixers, and North Jersey, where fans are most likely to root for the Knicks, so it’s hard to draw too much of a conclusion from these numbers. TickPick is also just one of a number of ticket-selling platforms, including Ticketmaster, StubHub, Vividseats, and more. But it does seem likely there will be a contingent of Knicks fans at the Wells Fargo Center.
“I’m counting on Philadelphia,” Barkley said on TNT.
Has Tyrese Maxey’s Game 5 performance reenergized a Sixers fan base that fell into apathy after going down 3-1 in the series? Or will there be a repeat of the Wells Fargo Center looking like Madison Square Garden South?