On the night of May 21st, the lights inside Madison Square Garden burned brighter than usual. Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals had drawn a sellout crowd of 19,812, buzzing with anticipation as the New York Knicks faced off against the Indiana Pacers. Among the sea of blue and orange, two familiar faces stirred a different kind of attention: Olivia Dunne and her older sister, Julz. On this night, Olivia traded her usual bleachers for a box seat in Manhattan’s basketball cathedral. With her was Julz, who jokingly accused Livvy of stealing her Instagram caption—a sisterly squabble that played out lightheartedly online. But as the game unfolded, so did this squabble that Knicks fans would wish to forget.

Things moved quickly just when the Knicks seemed in control, leading by 17 with just over six minutes left. But things quickly fell apart—turnovers mounted, free throws missed, and Aaron Nesmith caught fire, draining six threes in the fourth quarter alone. With the Knicks clinging to a two-point lead, Tyrese Haliburton stepped back over Mitchell Robinson and hit a clutch three-pointer with seconds left. The buzzer sounded on a stunning 138–135 Pacers win, leaving the Garden in stunned silence.

However, before the match began, somewhere in the chaos, a phone lit up. Olivia had posted a TikTok. The video showed her in her seat, Knicks cap on, a drink in hand. A text overlay rolled in cheekily: “this is great and all but how does this affect Lebron’s legacy?” She captioned it: “Courtside brainrot #nyc #knicks #basketball #nba.” But what was meant to be lighthearted took a different turn. 

The Knicks faithful—burned by hope once again—found a scapegoat in the Dunne sisters. One fan fired off in the comments: “Thanks for jinxing us ladies, don’t go back to anymore games. Thank you.” Dozens followed. The sisters, who came for a night of glitz and hoops, were suddenly part of a superstition-fueled postmortem.

Olivia Dunne’s appearance, her TikTok, even her handbag—everything became part of the unraveling lore of a franchise chasing a Finals dream it hadn’t touched in 26 years. However, it was not only Livvy and Julz but also Suni Lee who faced a loud online attack for ‘jinxing’ the game. For her, it was a double attack, as one part of the Knicks’ fans who had used to count her lucky charm for Knicks’ shooting guard OG Anunoby counted the Olympian as a bad omen after the game. That’s a different story. But neither Olivia nor Julz could have expected the words waiting for them on TikTok and Instagram. 

Olivia Dunne ends up facing the Knicks’ fans’ rage 

“Now we know why the Knicks crumbled,” someone quipped from a suite in Madison Square Garden, eyes rolling toward the Dunne sisters as if their designer bags had cast a hex on the hardwood. But while the crowd hunted for culprits in sequins and selfies, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle wasn’t buying the drama. When asked about the game’s wild momentum swing, he simply said, “It was awfully high”—a nod to the intensity, not the supposed witchcraft in the box seats. Still, the jinx talk was just heating up.

On TikTok, Knicks fans turned their heartbreak into a blame game. “Stay away from the Knick ur a jinx.” one comment declared under Olivia’s courtside post. Another fan dragged gymnast Suni Lee and Knicks star OG Anunoby into the mix: “Nullified Suni Lee’s magic on OG🥀💔 pls don’t go and see my team again, Livy getting the pirates stank on my Knicks.” It wasn’t just TikTok where things got salty.

Even on Instagram, the sentiment was identical. When Julz Dunne posted a recap of their night at MSG, smiles and sparkles were in full display. But below the surface, the comments got personal. “Yeah, you change the game all right from a Knicks victory to a loss. Go jinx your dude’s team.” That jab was aimed not just at Julz, but also at Olivia’s boyfriend, MLB pitcher Paul Skenes, and his Pittsburgh Pirates.

Neither sister took the bait. No clapbacks. No explanations. Just silence—stylish, unbothered silence. In the end, it wasn’t Livvy’s cap or Julz’s caption that doomed the Knicks. It was missed shots, shaky defense, and Aaron Nesmith turning into Steph Curry for a quarter. But in the court of public superstition, facts don’t matter nearly as much as finding someone to blame—and this time, the jury picked fashion, fame, and a viral TikTok.