The Knicks won Game 1, and somewhere outside Madison Square Garden, J.R. Smith apparently became part of the celebration against his will.
Clips circulating after New York’s victory showed Knicks fans mobbing the former Knick in the typical kind of sidewalk scene that only happens outside Madison Square Garden.
Knicks fans TRAMPLED Jr Smith after their Game 1 victory 😳 pic.twitter.com/VBvnu4fAFB
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) May 5, 2026
That is the thing about Knicks playoff wins: they don’t end at the buzzer. They spill into the streets, through train stations, and around the Garden. For a franchise whose fans have spent years rationing joy, every postseason win becomes an excuse to act like the city just discovered fire.
Smith is the perfect accidental character for this kind of scene. He is not just an ex-player. He is a Knicks memory with tattoos, a heat-check cult hero, a man forever associated with irrational confidence. So when the crowd found him, it did what Knicks crowds do best: it overreacted.
