As the final buzzer sounded in Madison Square Garden on Friday night, Dylan Backer leapt off the couch in his grandfather’s Royal Palm Beach living room—screaming, clapping, and celebrating alongside his twin brother and grandfather.
It was, he said, a moment almost too surreal to be real.
The Knicks had just blown-out the defending champion Boston Celtics 119–81 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years.
“I’ve never seen one of my teams win a championship,” said Backer, 22. “Not one that I really followed closely. So if this is the year? It would mean the world.”
Backer is part of a surprisingly large and passionate Knicks fan base that’s taken root in the heart of Heat territory. With so many New Yorkers relocating to South Florida over the past few decades—often bringing their sports loyalties with them—Knicks fandom here is more common than you’d think.
Generational ties have kept it alive despite the Knicks’ decades-long drought. They haven’t won an NBA title since 1973 and have only made the finals twice since.
That’s part of the reason why this playoff run feels so significant. It’s not just because of the wins, but because of what they represent for long-suffering fans who’ve waited a lifetime.
Backer, a South Florida native, has been a Knicks fan since he was 13—thanks to his grandfather, a New York native, who passed down a love for the team. Now a sports journalist and content creator for “Fireside Knicks,” a Knicks fan page with over 20,000 followers on Instagram, Backer says he gets questioned all the time.
“I get it all the time,” he said. “People are like, ‘You’re a Knicks fan? In Florida?’ It doesn’t make sense to most people. Especially with how much Heat fans hate the Knicks. But for me, it’s always been about family.”
Dylan Backer’s Knicks jerseys (Photo Courtesy of Dylan Backer)
Friday night’s 38-point margin of victory, 119-81, was the largest in Knicks’ history. And even hundreds of miles from the Garden, fans in South Florida felt every second of it.
Before tipoff, Homestead resident Mark Fabian had one message for the Knicks: “Go win that chip, and defeat Jayson Tatum (who was injured from the game), Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis (who didn’t start after a dismal performance to start the series), and everyone on the Celtics team.”
Fabian became a Knicks fan last year simply by watching more basketball and gravitating toward the grit and loyalty of the franchise.
The nerves were real leading into the game. Derek Ochoa, 25, who moved from New York to Fort Myers as a teenager, has been a lifelong fan—he was raised that way by his father. “The lows have always been super low,” he said. “We’ve had some fun moments, but it’s still always been a losing season.”
But by halftime, even Ochoa was shocked: the Knicks led 64–37, their largest halftime advantage of the series. “The intensity has been great,” he said at the break. “We just need to keep that pace going into the third quarter and not let up.”
They did. Fueled by dominant defense and stellar play from Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges, the Knicks never gave Boston a chance to recover.
Knicks fan watching game 6 at Flanigans in Kendall where Fabian watched the game (Photo Courtesy of Jessica Oliva)
“This playoff run has been surreal,” Backer said after the win. “Fireside Knicks gained over 8,000 followers just during the playoffs. That’s insane. And it shows how many Knicks fans are out there—even here in Florida. They’re passionate. They’ve been waiting for this moment.”
For Backer, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just weeks after turning 21, the Knicks have become a source of strength.
“It’s been a really hard struggle,” he said. “But watching the Knicks has honestly given me something to look forward to every day. It’s helped me cope. This playoff run especially—it’s been like a light through the dark.”
Hansel Heres, 22, a recent Duke University grad from Kendall, also found himself drawn to the team through someone close to him. “My best friend from college was a big Knicks fan, so I stayed close to the franchise,” he said. “Jalen Brunson is making the argument to tap into that next tier of players. If the Knicks get to the finals this year, that cements him as an all-time player.”
Now, all eyes turn to Wednesday night’s game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which will be played at Madison Square Garden at 8 p.m. EST and streamed on TNT and HBO Max. It will see the Knicks face the Indiana Pacers—a playoff rematch that stirs up memories of the 1990s rivalry between Reggie Miller’s Pacers and Patrick Ewing’s Knicks. The Pacers won’t be an easy matchup with point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who averaged 18.6 points per game during the regular season and sparked victory over the number one seed Cleveland Cavaliers leading a fast-paced offense. But Knicks fans are confident in their team’s resilience.
“Coming into this series, I honestly thought Boston would win in five,” Backer admitted. “But what the Knicks are doing right now—it feels different. Like maybe this is the year we win it all.”
