President Trump has suite view of NBA Finals but for Knick fans, the stars were on the court

The first NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden in 27 years was the hottest ticket in town Monday, and even President Donald Trump wanted to be part of the action. Trump and his phalanx of security and White House officials watched from a suite as his hometown Knicks took on the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Trump's image on the arena's big screen during the national anthem elicited a mix of boos and cheers from the sold-out crowd, but to a fan base hungry for the Knicks' first NBA title since Richard Nixon roamed the White House, the president's presence was only a brief distraction inside "The World's Most Famous Arena."

Outside, Trump's attendance at the Knicks' first home NBA Finals game since 1999 had led to a massive security upgrade and warnings to anyone with a ticket to arrive at least two hours early for what the team called "TSA-style screening procedures."

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the former congressman from Shirley, joined the president in a suite along with Knicks owner James Dolan, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Kai Trump — the president’s granddaughter.

Trump, sitting in the front of his box, occasionally turned and spoke to others in the suite, including Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, but didn’t cheer or offer much reaction to anything happening on the court. At the end of the first half, he stood and applauded, then turned and headed to the back of the box. But he returned for the third quarter.

The president left his seat and watched the final 6.8 seconds of the Knicks' losing effort on his feet. When the Knicks’ last gasp three-point shot attempt bounced off the rim and out of bounds with 2.1 seconds left, Trump, like thousands of other dejected Knick faithful, headed for the exit.

His visit sent parts of midtown Manhattan into paralysis. Subway passengers at the 34th Street-Herald Square station exiting trains found street exits blocked by police. Citi Bike riders couldn't dock. Cyclists were forced to cram close to the gutter. No vehicular traffic was allowed to pass. Cops from precincts around the city stood and blocked frustrated pedestrians.

The blocks surrounding Madison Square Garden were a maze of barricades, checkpoints, sand-filled trucks and thousands of cops — and lots of "no."

No walking west or east unless you can prove you belong. No passing without going through a metal detector. No entry to the subway, nowhere to watch the game. 

Some fans outside the Garden before the game, where most were decked out in the blue and orange colors of the Knicks, expressed confusion at the airport-like security lines. Officials said there would no watch party outside the Garden during the game.

A watch party during Friday's Game 2 in San Antonio ended with more than a dozen arrests.

The NYPD closed the area around the Garden from West 30th to West 35th streets between Sixth and Eighth avenues. Seventh and Eighth avenues were to remain closed to vehicles and pedestrians until after the game ended. Below the Garden at Penn Station, there was an enhanced police presence.

"Relax, the game's not for another three hours," an NYPD officer shouted to some fans lined up about 5 p.m.

"You guys told us to get here this early," a fan shouted back jokingly.

The scene outside was less convivial hours later as Knicks and the Spurs engaged in a tight, tense battle. Just before the end of the third quarter, a dozen NYPD officers, to jeers and boos and with body cameras activated, moved in to disperse an unauthorized viewing party: the game being projected onto the side of a building at Broadway at Sixth Avenue, north of West 33rd Street.

With minutes left in the game, NYPD officers blocks from Madison Square Garden began to don riot helmets and face shields and wield batons for the type of unrest that had been unfolding less than a dozen blocks north near Bryant Park, where officers struggled to gain control over unruly crowds.

Some around the park attempted to yank street signs from the ground and climb onto trucks and structures.

When Trump's motorcade drove east on West 34th Street after the game, his blond mane visible in the limousine window, a dozen onlookers cheered but hundreds more booed loudly.

Inside the arena before the Trump arrived, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said despite the extra security, he welcomed the president's presence.

"[Knicks owner] Jim Dolan asked him to attend and he said yes," Silver said during a pregame interview on the ABC broadcast. 

The commissioner added Trump is "a genuine Knicks fan."

Later, Silver could be seen during the game talking to Trump. The president was spotted eating a bucket of French fries and sipping on what appeared to be a Diet Coke.

When he lived in Manhattan, Trump was "a fixture" at the Garden who often sat courtside, according to the commissioner.

"I think that what makes sports so special, especially when there’s so much that divides people, is it’s something that we have in common and we should look for those things that we have in common and build off that," Silver said to the "Inside the NBA" team on ABC.

Fans had been given wristbands, which lit up and changed colors, creating a kaleidoscope of light as the video board began playing its usual pregame hype routine. When that ended, and the Spurs came out for their layup lines, fans booed, and chanted "Let’s go Knicks!" And then it was the Knicks turn, and the fans stood and turned up the volume on their cheers.

Newsday's Laura Figueroa Hernandez contributed to this story.