> Manhattan Scalpers won't leave unsold seats to a game like this

In this situation, it is unlikely that is it scalpers with the really desirable court side seats that fetch the highest value. It is season ticket holders and people with connections. The price you see is essentially, "it's going to cost you this much to make me miss watching my team in the championship".

For the other seats that were available to the general public, sure, it's likely scalpers as with any other event.

Great point, I totally forgot about that angle.

I used to have season tickets to a team with a championship drought. Those priority season tickets were sold pretty close to regular season pricing.

Someone offering me $500 or $1,000 wouldn’t have been enough to stop me from going.