Knicks fans transform LA sports bar into LA’s Madison Square Garden

On most nights in Silverlake, the scene inside 33 Taps is what you would expect from a quintessential Los Angeles sports bar. Beers are chugged out of pint glasses.

Lakers highlights flicker across the televisions. Half the crowd is wearing Dodger hats as they chat and share boneless wings. 

But on Tuesday night, during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals between the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the place transformed into something completely different. 

This was no longer Los Angeles. 

This was Madison Square Garden. Only with better weather. 

There were rumors that a group of New York transplants had turned a neighborhood sports bar into a Knicks pilgrimage site during playoff games…and they weren’t wrong!

From the moment you walk up to the bar you can see the overflow of Knicks fans seated outside. The line to get inside wraps around the corner and into nearby businesses. As soon as you enter through the doors, the energy hits you in the chest like a subway train pulling into Times Square during rush hour. 

Orange and blue Knicks jerseys flood every corner of the bar. Ewing. Starks. Camby. Houston. Anthony. Brunson. Towns. From throwbacks to current players, these were legit Knicks fans. A guy sitting at the bar wore a vintage Knicks bomber jacket like it was a suit of armor. 

As the Cavaliers took the lead at the half, another fan in a Knicks’ hat screamed at the television while clutching his beer. His accent was easily recognizable.

These were definitely New Yorkers, no matter where they lived now.  

Through conversations, most of them had migrated west years ago chasing acting careers, writing jobs, music gigs, or a clean beach and sunshine. But regardless of the reason, all roads led back to Manhattan. 

Only now, the 32nd & 7th in Midtown Manhattan was across the street from a taco stand and tucked between a sushi place and a Salt & Straw. 

“Everyone knows this is a Knicks bar,” said one fan who has lived in LA for over 10 years.

Another fan from The Bronx, said he started coming to 33 Taps back in 2023.

“Back then, it was maybe five or six people,” he said. “Now look at this.”

He motioned towards the standing-room-only crowd that was packed shoulder-to-shoulder at communal tables all staring at the giant television along the back wall. 

It all started with Peter Agoston.

A self-proclaimed Knicks superfan who started coming to 33 Taps in Silverlake to watch Knicks summer league games in 2021.

For decades, being a Knicks fan felt like inherited trauma disguised as basketball loyalty. The Knicks haven’t won a title since 1973 (over the Lakers). Players and coaches changed, the losses never stopped coming. Between 2001-2022 they missed the playoffs 15 times. 

Then came 2023. 

The Knicks beat the Cavaliers in the first round before losing to the Miami Heat in six games. But that postseason run changed everything. More fans started showing up. Agoston told them to come back next season. They did. 

He created the Left Coast Knicks Instagram account and began to let fans know when and where the watch party would be. 

“It became this word-of-mouth thing,” Agoston told the Times back in 2023. “When the Knicks are good, there’s no energy like Knicks fans.”

And 33 Taps has their own version of Celebrity Row.

One of the regulars since 2023 is Desus Nice, the sharp-tongued comedian and former co-host of the “Desus vs. Mero” show. He moved to LA that year and didn’t want to watch games alone in his apartment. 

Actor Jerry O’Connell, a lifelong Knicks fan born in Manhattan began showing up to 33 Taps during last year’s playoff run. The Knicks upset the reigning champion Boston Celtics before eventually losing to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. 

“We’re a community now,” said another fan who arrived two hours early Tuesday night just to secure a table. “Some people moved here 20 years ago. Some moved here two months ago. But this became home.”

And nothing epitomized that home away from home more than Game 1. The Knicks, who had eight days of rest after sweeping the 76ers, trailed by 22 points in the fourth quarter before detonating one of the wildest comebacks in playoff history, storming back to force overtime in what turned into a stunning 115-104 win.

The reaction inside 33 Taps was absolute chaos. Beer flew through the air. Fans jumped up and down, shouting, screaming and high-fiving strangers. Fans poured out into the orange and blue sunset as if they had just witnessed a religious experience. 

And maybe they had. Because for one night in Silverlake, the night belonged to New York.

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