May 01, 2024
Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports
Jon Stewart, above in file photo during a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden last season, was at Game 5 on Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers when Tyrese Maxey stunned the crowd with a late three-pointer that tied the game.
Speechless is not a word that many people would associate with Jon Stewart, who made his career out of delivering monologues that mercilessly roast politicians and other people in the news.
But there he stood on Tuesday night, courtside at Madison Square Garden, a man disembodied. Tyrese Maxey had just splashed a deep three to send the Sixers and Knicks into overtime in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. The Sixers went on to win and stave off elimination, sending the series back to the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night with the Knicks up 3-2.
Maxey, who scored 46 points last night, was exultant after hitting his big shot. He marched around the court and passed by Stewart, whose stupefied expression was caught on camera. Stewart later acknowledged the moment in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Respect to Maxey…but damn…I’m clearly getting too old for this shit… pic.twitter.com/XjOkPOfaaQ
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) May 1, 2024
New York YouTuber Adam's Apple caught up with Stewart outside the arena after the game.
"Damn, man. You know, the crazy thing is we were just like, we were in the mode of, "Oh, it's over. We did it!'" Stewart said. "We haven't closed out a series since '99 (at Madison Square Garden)."
Sixers fans rightfully have felt cursed as a result of several years of playoff meltdowns and disappointments. What happened Tuesday night seems like an unthinkable bit of fortune and resilience for a Sixers team that's been short on both. Sometimes, all it takes is a more insidious curse to act as a counter spell — and the Knicks, for all their mojo this season, still have that going against them.
If nothing else, fans of both teams can agree this has been one of the most thrilling playoff duels in recent memory. Nothing would be more satisfying than the Sixers taking the series back to New York for a Game 7 and sending all of those celebs home in utter dejection.
