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.

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.

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Soon after, rowdy fans were clashing with police, smashing windows on a police car, climbing scaffolding, light poles and a statue, standing atop school buses in Times Square and trying to hitch a ride on a moving fire truck.

The NYPD said there were multiple arrests but wouldn't have a total until later on Sunday.

Knicks owner James Dolan, speaking in San Antonio after the game, urged fans to stay calm.

 We need to tell everybody in New York that we know that they're celebrating, we want them to have a great time,  said Dolan, interrupting guard Josh Hart's press conference.  Please be safe. Don't get hurt, don't hurt anybody. 

The city will officially celebrate the Knicks on Thursday with a parade and City Hall ceremony.

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.

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:  Go New York, Go New York, Go! 

Police officers and ambulance workers shouted  Let's go Knicks  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.

 I'm so overwhelmed. I'm so happy,  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.

Ogno wor

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