San Antonio Spurs Canceling Knicks Fans' Tickets for NBA Finals Game 5

The Spurs say their ticket policy is nothing new ... and has been that way the entire playoffs.

"The 150-mile radius restriction introduced during the Playoffs remains in place throughout the NBA Finals. This allows us to continue prioritizing local fans across San Antonio, Austin and surrounding communities."

Suddenly, there's a "No City Slickers" rule in place for the NBA Finals game 5 ... the San Antonio Spurs are yanking tickets away from Knicks fans hoping to watch their team win its first 'chip in 53 years.

The message is loud and clear on the Ticketmaster page for Spurs tickets ... anyone buying tickets for Saturday night's crucial game will be blocked if ya ain't from 'round these parts. The actual warning reads, "Sales to this event will be restricted to customers residing within a 150-mile radius of Frost Bank Center" ... the Spurs home arena.

Even if you're an out-of-towner who already has tickets, you're likely to get screwed, too. The Ticketmaster warning adds, violators of the rule will have their tickets "canceled without notice" ... but you will get a refund.

Clearly, the Spurs don't want their turf taken over by loud and excited New York fans willing to fork out big money to witness the Jalen Brunson, O.G. Anunoby and the rest of the Knicks take home the team's first NBA Championship title since 1973. The NYers are up 3-1 in the best-of-7 series, so they can wrap things up Saturday night.

You can see why the Knicks faithful are scrambling for last-minute plane tickets, hotels and game tix ... which are going for at least $1,500 in the nosebleeds, and up to $10K for anything on the floor. Knicks fans have reportedly already snatched up 50% of the game 5 seats.

Ticketmaster says it's using customers' credit card billing addresses to spot outsiders. It's unclear how the Spurs would enforce this on the secondary market, where bummed-out Spurs ticketholders might be looking to make some easy money.

One thing's for sure ... Knicks fans are gonna be pissed. We've reached out to the Spurs and the NBA, but no word back yet.

The Spurs' efforts to block fans the way Victor Wembanyama blocks players' shots come on the heels of San Antonio losing game 4 in historic fashion. They were up by 29 points before the Knicks pulled off the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, winning 107-106 ... much to the joy of Taylor Swift, Timothee Chalamet, Mariska Hargitay and Spike Lee.