Knicks-Hawks Game 1 ticket prices at MSG nearly three times the average of other NBA playoff games

Want to see the Knicks in the playoffs but can’t stomach paying at least $314 for a seat where you feel like you can touch the ceiling?

The options are even worse if you want to be closer to the action. On Wednesday the price of all seats for Game 1 of the Knicks’ first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden were averaging a league-high $617 on TickPick, nearly three times the average price at the NBA’s seven other Game 1 venues.

“It’s New York City, the mecca of the basketball world, with a fixed number of seats in the most famous arena in the country’s most densely populated area,” said Greg Bouris, who teaches sports management at Adelphi University. “It’s also an affluent market with a lot of Wall Street executives and people who bring in big bonuses.”

“It all comes down to the laws of supply and demand. Say what you want about their recent history, they are still a marquee franchise. Just the Knicks getting in the playoffs is going to drive demand.”

What about fans who don’t work in finance or have a trust fund? With a little work, creativity and willingness to be flexible, there are ways to cut your costs.

Start with the basic get-in package. Two nosebleed seats at MSG for $628. Add a trip on the LIRR from, let’s say Huntington, for $54. Plus, two hot dogs, two beers and one box of popcorn for $60, depending on the dog you get and whether you are one of those nice people who tips. Grand total: $742.

Need to save a little more. Try Game 2 on Monday. Being on a weekday drops the price for two tickets to $580. Grab a couple slices and a soda at Penn Station and you cut your food bill in half. Grand total for budget experience: $664.

Still too expensive and willing to take a gamble? Try this tip from a friend who got a floor ticket to Beyonce at MetLife Stadium for $50. Find a bar or a restaurant near Madison Square Garden and work that phone as you peruse the secondary markets. If you are willing to miss tipoff — my friend missed Beyonce’s first couple of songs — you might score a great seat from a desperate seller. Or you might just be watching the game from a bar, which is never a horrible option.

“Waiting to the last minute can be a great strategy, “ said Kyle Zorn, TickPick’s director of content and a former Stony Brook University lacrosse player. “We sell tickets all the way into the first quarter and even all the way to the half. It is a little riskier but there’s an opportunity to get tickets at a great price.”

Speaking of a great price, it’s hard not to be jealous when you look at what other fans around the league are paying. The get-in price for Game 1 of the Lakers-Houston series, which features future Hall of Famers LeBron James and Kevin Durant, is $150, making it the second-most expensive in the league behind the Knicks. The least expensive? Toronto at Cleveland for $39.

Which brings us to Atlanta. If you actually want a great ticket where you can see and hear the players, State Farm Arena is your place. Where a ticket in the lower bowl in the section behind the Knicks’ bench for Game 1 will set you back at least $2,100, a similar seat at State Farm Arena will cost you $382, where there are multiple tickets to be had for $62.

Hassle? Yes. But, for what it’s worth, Frontier Airline has round-trip tickets for $266 from Kennedy.

By Barbara Barker

barbara.barker@newsday.commeanbarb

Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.