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NEW YORK — <\/span>It was bedlam on Broadway as the New York Knicks won their first NBA championship in 53 years on Saturday night, with exuberant celebrations marred by mayhem and violence, including gunshots in Times Square.<\/p>\n Outside Madison Square Garden, a crowd watching on a big screen roared as the Knicks rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n Soon after, rowdy fans were clashing with police, smashing windshields, scaling scaffolding, light poles and a statue, climbing into and atop school buses in Times Square and trying to hitch a ride on a moving fire truck. Later, one of the buses was engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n Around 2 a.m., gunshots were fired near 42nd Street and Broadway, police said. Bystander video captured the sound of at least seven shots and showed people crouching and running for cover. Preliminary reports indicated no one was injured, police said.<\/p>\n The NYPD said there were multiple arrests but wouldn\u2019t have a total until later on Sunday.<\/p>\n Knicks owner James Dolan, speaking in San Antonio after the game, urged fans to stay calm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to tell everybody in New York that we know that they\u2019re celebrating, we want them to have a great time,” said Dolan, interrupting guard Josh Hart\u2019s press conference. \u201cPlease be safe. Don\u2019t get hurt, don\u2019t hurt anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n The city will officially celebrate the Knicks on Thursday with a parade and City Hall ceremony.<\/p>\n As the clock ticked to the final buzzer on Saturday night, anxiety that had dominated the game’s first three quarters gave way to euphoria. An orange-and-blue-tinted fever dream that started with the Knicks’ first playoff game two months ago ended in the third title in their 80-year history.<\/p>\n Fireworks boomed over Brooklyn and Central Park. Fans flocked to Times Square and ran through the streets. Outside the Garden, they sang the team’s anthem: \u201cGo New York, Go New York, Go!\u201d<\/p>\n Police officers and ambulance workers shouted \u201cLet\u2019s go Knicks\u201d over loudspeakers in Brooklyn. Strangers shook hands and hugged. In the Lincoln Tunnel, where people were riding buses back from the World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, drivers honked their horns in celebration.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so overwhelmed. I\u2019m so happy,\u201d said Mathieu Ogno, of Long Island, who fought back tears as he soaked in the victory at a team-sanctioned watch party at Wollman Rink in Central Park.<\/p>\n Ogno wore the jersey of Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, whose 45 points propelled the Knicks to victory and him to the NBA Finals MVP. Brunson\u2019s gritty determination and chip-on-his-shoulder style have made him a fan favorite, embodying New York’s working-class ethos.<\/p>\n The Knicks’ championship \u2014 19,392 days since their last \u2014 capped an extraordinary postseason for a franchise that hadn’t been to the NBA Finals since losing to the Spurs in 1999. Since April 23, the team has won 15 of 16 games, with its lone loss coming Monday in Game 3.<\/p>\n Their last title, in 1973, was also won on the road in a Game 5. Their first, in 1970, was won at home in a Game 7 thriller. Neither was celebrated with a parade.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m happy to see my Knicks finally make it over the hump,\u201d said Shawn Muoneke, 26. \u201cI\u2019ve seen them knock on the door. They were knocking on the door the past few years. But they finally made it over the hump, and I\u2019m so happy to see it and I\u2019m so happy I\u2019m in the city to experience it.\u201d<\/p>\n Muoneke, born a year after the Knicks\u2019 last trip to the NBA Finals, started rooting for them when he was 10. He drove from Maryland to be in the city for Game 5 at the team’s Central Park watch party.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw the ups, the downs and I watched the team come back up, and I was so happy to see them finally reach the highest echelon of stardom as a team,\u201d Muoneke said.<\/p>\n After the Knicks’ win, he said, the vibes in the city “are the highest they\u2019ve ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n President Donald Trump, a longtime Knicks fan who attended Game 3 at the Garden with Dolan, congratulated the team in a post on his Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat a year it has been but, even more so, what incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four – Maybe the greatest in the history of basketball,\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n With Brunson’s clutch performance, he added, \u201ca superstar was born.\u201d<\/p>\n After several dozen arrests throughout the playoffs and violence after Games 3 and 4 in New York that left officers injured and a teen in a coma, police girded for unrest as Saturday bled into Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we celebrate, be responsible, look out for one another, stay safe, be smart, and make this a night that reflects the very best of our city,\u201d Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on social media. \u201cLet\u2019s go Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n __<\/p>\n Emily Wang Fujiyama contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n