Add The New York Post on Google These fans are already drinking the sweet taste of victory.
A group of five Knicks supporters from around the five boroughs are headed to watch the team play in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday after winning a scavenger-hunt-like contest right out of Willie Wonka.
Each fan solved a riddle that led them to bodegas and pizzerias Tuesday, were they each became the first to find a pair hidden Game 2 tickets disguised as a Pepsi soda can that were left there by the company.
“I’m shaking!” Madison D’Alesio said after storming into Gino’s Pizzeria in Fresh Meadows and claiming one of the prizes — beating out several men who came flailing in after her.
D’Alesio, 21, estimates she had her hands wrapped around the can in under 10 minutes after Pepsi posted the Queens clue to their social media page.
The soda company — which has sponsored the team since 2018 — planted one limited-edition Knicks collector can in each of the five boroughs and dropped clues on social media for super fans to find — the one catch being that the lucky winners had to wear gear repping their favorite team.
The clue for the Queens ticket was a poem about “kissing” at “6500 plus one” — which turned out to be a nod to Gino’s location at 65-01 Kissena Boulevard, which happened to be the place from which D’Alesio’s family orders pies for during their Knicks watch parties.
It was a perfect storm for the Hofstra law student, who just finished classes and wouldn’t normally have been home in time for the game, and whose sister conveniently left her Knicks good luck jersey hanging by the front door.
D’Alesio — a self-described Pepsi lover — also put her Pepsi crocks on for good measure.
“Literally, I don’t think there’s anything that could have went wrong!” D’Alesio told The Post, adding that the hard part will now be determining whether to use her single guest ticket on her dad or her sister, both fellow superfans.
“I jokingly told them that when we’re watching Game 1, I’m hosting a mini Olympics to see who wins. But we haven’t gotten the nitty-gritty. That’s not my responsibility. They have to figure it out.”
All five contest winners from around the boroughs snagged their cans in under 15 minutes.
“Thank God I live down the block!” Joseph Fox of Staten Island said after grabbing his can at the Beyar’s Market on Victory Boulevard.
Stephen Marcellino Jr., of Westchester, was visiting family when he saw a clue that his can was waiting for him in The Bronx’s Green Apple Gourmet on East Tremont.
“My heart is racing right now. The only other time I felt like this was when my kids were born!” Marcellino Jr. said.
Daniel Reyes was named the Brooklyn winner after finding the borough’s can in Williamsburg’s 555 Deli and Grill, while the appropriately-named Samuel Hoops grabbed one in Manhattan’s Yorkville Deli.
The Knicks are headed into Game 2 with an incredible win under their belt after overcoming a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit in an epic 115-104 Game 1 win over the Cavaliers Tuesday night on their own home turf.
Tickets are still available to the heated series, but come at a pretty penny — with the cheapest for any game going for $510, including fees on SeatGeek, as of Monday reporting.
Other games start anywhere from $557 to $1,194, including fees.
