GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Joel Embiid wants Philadelphia fans at the Philadelphia games.
Good luck with that. One way or another, the Knicks know the New Yorkers are coming.
The 76ers and Knicks begin the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday at Madison Square Garden, which is expected to be packed with Knicks fans, from the celebrities in the front row all the way to the die-hards way up top.
Both teams already are looking ahead to what happens when the series moves to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4.
When they met two years ago in the first round, Knicks fans swarmed Philadelphia and Embiid pleaded with fans not to let it happen again.
“Last time we played the Knicks it felt like this was Madison Square Garden East. So we’re going to need the support,” Embiid said. “Don’t sell your tickets. This is bigger than you. We need you guys. The atmosphere we’ve had the last couple games in Philly, especially the last one pushing it to Game 7, I mean, we need all of it."
The 76ers are trying to do their part. A message on their website reads: “Xfinity Mobile Arena is located in Philadelphia, PA. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of Greater Philadelphia area. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside Greater Philadelphia area will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”
Even if that works, there's nothing that can prevent big-spending backers of the Knicks from buying from Philadelphia fans who choose to sell.
“Good thing about New Yorkers, man, they’re persistent. They don’t care, bro. They're going to do it, man,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “And for a lot of people, everything revolves around money. So, you know, if they get a good price for those tickets, they’re going to sell them.”
Hart, who played in college at Villanova, noted that it's less than a two-hour drive from New York to Philadelphia — even quicker by train — and that it's likely far cheaper to buy tickets for the road games.
Embiid was disappointed in 76ers fans during the 2024 series, when Jalen Brunson received raucous “MVP! MVP!” chants while scoring 47 points as the Knicks won Game 4 in Philadelphia. Embiid said afterward that: "I don’t think that should happen. It’s not OK.”
Sixers owners then bought and gave away more than 2,000 tickets to people who serve the Philadelphia community when the Knicks returned for Game 6.
If any Philadelphians are looking to sell, Embiid is ready to buy.
“Knicks fans, they travel," he said. "There’s going to be some people that need the money and probably going to sell tickets, but don’t do it. We need you guys. We’ve got a pretty good chance. We’re going to need our support. We’re going to need them to be extremely loud and if you need money, I got you.”
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Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid reacts during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz said it was attacked by multiple small craft, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported on Sunday, the latest in at least two dozen attacks in and around the strait since the Iran war began.
Meanwhile, Tehran said it was reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal on ending the war but made clear these were not nuclear negotiations.
All crew on the unidentified northbound cargo ship were safe after the attack off Sirik, Iran, east of the strait, the British monitor said. Iranian officials have asserted that they control the strait and that ships not affiliated with the United States or Israel can pass if they pay a toll, challenging the freedom of navigation guaranteed by international law.
Iran denied an attack, the semiofficial Iranian outlets Fars and Tabnak reported, and said a passing ship had been stopped for a documents check as part of monitoring.
The monitor said it was the first reported attack in the area since April 22. Tehran has effectively closed the strait by attacking and threatening ships, and the threat level in the area remains critical.
Iranian patrol boats, some powered only by twin outboard motors, are small, nimble and hard to detect. U.S. President Donald Trump last month ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the strait.
The fragile three-week ceasefire appears to be holding, though Trump on Saturday told journalists that further strikes remained a possibility.
Tehran is reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal, Iran’s judiciary Mizan news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying.
But “at this stage, we have no nuclear negotiations,” Baghaei said. Iran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium have long been the central issue in tensions with the U.S., but Tehran would rather address it later.
Iran’s proposal wants other issues resolved within 30 days and aims to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire, according to Iran’s state-linked media.
Trump on Saturday said he was reviewing the proposal but expressed doubt it would lead to a deal, adding on social media that “they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done" in the nearly 50 years since the Islamic Revolution there.
Iran’s 14-point proposal calls for the U.S. lifting sanctions on Iran, ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, according to the semiofficial Nour News and Tasnim agencies, which have close ties to Iran's security organizations.
Iran sent its proposal via Pakistan, which hosted face-to-face talks last month between Iran and the United States.
Pakistan's prime minister, foreign minister and army chief continue to encourage the U.S. and Iran to speak directly, according to two officials in Pakistan who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Also on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with his counterpart in Oman, which oversaw previous rounds of talks before the war, and in Brazil and Spain.
Trump has offered a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes, along with fertilizer badly needed by farmers around the world.
Iran's grip on the strait, imposed after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, has shaken global markets.
The British military monitor on Sunday said it had received reports that ships near Ras al-Khaimah, the northernmost emirate in the United Arab Emirates and close to the strait, have received radio warnings to move from anchorages. It was not clear who sent the VHF messages.
Tehran “will not back down from our position on the Strait of Hormuz, and it will not return to its prewar conditions,” Iran’s deputy parliament speaker, Ali Nikzad, said Sunday while visiting port facilities on strategic Larak Island.
The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran in any form, including digital assets, to transit the strait safely.
Meanwhile, the U.S. naval blockade since April 13 is depriving Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. The U.S. Central Command on Sunday said 49 commercial ships have been told to turn back.
“We think that they’ve gotten less than $1.3 million in tolls, which is a pittance on their previous daily oil revenues,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday. He said Iran's oil storage is rapidly filling up and "they’re going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could be in the next week.”
On Sunday, the second day of Iran's working week, the rial weakened further against the U.S. dollar. In Tehran’s Ferdowsi Street, the capital’s main currency exchange hub, the dollar was trading at 1,840,000 rials.
Analysts say there is a strong possibility the currency will slip further.
The rial was trading at 1.3 million to the dollar in December, a record low at the time, and triggered widespread protests over the worsening economy. Markets in Tehran remain unstable, with prices of some goods rising daily.
According to reports in Iranian media, several factories have not renewed contracts for workers after the Iranian new year in March, and significant numbers have lost their jobs.
Yousef Pezeshkian, the son and adviser of President Masoud Pezeshkian, wrote on Telegram that both the United States and Iran see themselves as the winner of the war and are unwilling to back down.
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Anna from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
People view rugs at the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People walk through Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman reacts to the camera at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman looks at jewelry in the window of a gold shop at Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar, Iran, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
An Emirati patrol boat, left, is near a tanker anchored in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from a coastal road near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
A child holds an Iranian flag through the window of a vehicle in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A groom and bride ride on their motorbike in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vehicles drive past a billboard with graphic showing Strait of Hormuz and sewn lips of U.S. President Donald Trump in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
