Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

1998–99 New York Knicks season

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Head coach
  
Jeff Van Gundy

Arena
  
Madison Square Garden

Owner(s)
  
Cablevision

Record
  
27–23 (.540)

General manager
  
Ernie Grunfeld Dave Checketts

Place
  
Division: 4th Conference: 8th

The 1998–99 New York Knicks season was the 52nd season of NBA basketball in New York City. The Head Coach was Jeff Van Gundy, serving for his 4th year. The team played its home games at Madison Square Garden in New York City. To give All-Star center Patrick Ewing more help offensively and defensively, the Knicks acquired All-Star guard Latrell Sprewell from the Golden State Warriors and Marcus Camby from the Toronto Raptors, while signing free agent Kurt Thomas and re-signing Herb Williams during the offseason. However, because of the lockout shortened season, and injuries to Sprewell and Ewing, the Knicks had to build chemistry on the fly, and barely made the playoffs with a 27–23 record. The Knicks had to win six of its remaining eight games just to qualify.

Contents

In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks defeated the top-seeded Miami Heat in five games, (one of the five games on one of the biggest shots in Knicks' history by Allan Houston), and the 4th-seeded Atlanta Hawks in a second round sweep as Camby, who had struggled through most of the regular season, emerged as one of the key players off a deep Knicks bench. Camby's 11 points and 13 rebounds in Game 2 of the Atlanta series proved to be his coming-out party, as the Knicks advanced to the Conference Finals to meet a familiar foe, Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers.

However, the Knicks would lose Ewing after Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Ewing had been battling through an Achilles injury, but it was learned that the tendon (which he had played on in Game 2) was partially torn, and he would be forced to miss the rest of the playoffs. The Knicks were rescued by Larry Johnson in Game 3. Standing outside the three-point line with 11.9 seconds left, Johnson held the ball, and then began to dribble. He leaned into defender Antonio Davis before jumping up. The referee called the foul about a half-second before Johnson released the ball, but it was counted as a continuation shooting foul. The three-point basket and the ensuing free throw gave the Knicks a 92–91 victory. The Knicks would then stamp their ticket to the NBA finals with a 90–82 in Game 6, despite losing Larry Johnson to a knee injury in the first half. Led by Houston's 32-point performance and defense against Miller (3–18 shooting), the Knicks closed out the Pacers. The Knicks' 27–23 record was the worst for a team to reach the Finals since Houston did it with a 40–42 in 1981.

In the Finals, the Knicks were halted in five games against the San Antonio Spurs. Completely overmatched by the Spurs' height with Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the Knicks lost at home with a 78–77 loss in Game 5 despite Sprewell's 35 points. For the series, Sprewell averaged 26.0 points and Houston 21.6. Following the season, Williams retired.

Transactions

  • On 6/25/98: Knicks traded Charles Oakley and Sean Marks to the Toronto Raptors for Marcus Camby
  • On 1/18/99: Knicks traded John Starks, Chris Mills and Terry Cummings to the Golden State Warriors for Latrell Sprewell

    • Western Conference

    C – NBA Champions E – Eastern Conference Champions

    Schedule

    Feb. Feb. 5 Orlando 93, New York 85 (0-1) Feb. 7 Miami 83, New York 79 (0-2) Feb. 10 New York 101, Washington 88 (1-2) Feb. 11 New York 73, Chicago 68 (2-2) Feb. 15 New York 78, Detroit 69 (3-2) Feb. 16 New York 95, Toronto 85 (4-2) Feb. 18 Cleveland 98, New York 74 (4-3) Feb. 19 New York 78, Philadelphia 67 (5-3) Feb. 21 New York 79, Chicago 63 (6-3) Feb. 23 New York 82, New Jersey 74 (7-3) Feb. 25 New York 115, Minnesota 113 (8-3) Feb. 26 Boston 94, New York 80 (8-4) Feb. 28 Detroit 89, New York 68 (8-5) Mar. Mar. 1 New York 85, Cleveland 78 (9-5) Mar. 2 Miami 85, New York 84 (9-6) Mar. 5 Milwaukee 88, New York 87 (9-7) Mar. 7 New York 97, New Jersey 86 (10-7) Mar. 9 Milwaukee 87, New York 86 (10-8) Mar. 11 New York 98, Washington 86 (11-8) Mar. 12 Chicago 76, New York 63 (11-9) Mar. 14 New York 94, Charlotte 86 (12-9) Mar. 15 New York 108, Milwaukee 102 (13-9) Mar. 16 New York 113, Los Angeles Clippers 89 (14-9) Mar. 18 Orlando 86, New York 78 (14-10) Mar. 20 New York 96, Boston 78 (15-10) Mar. 21 Toronto 85, New York 81 (15-11) Mar. 22 Atlanta 80, New York 71 (15-12) Mar. 24 Sacramento 92, New York 91 (15-13) Mar. 26 New York 94, Phoenix 87 (16-13) Mar. 28 Los Angeles Lakers 99, New York 91 (16-14) Mar. 30 New York 94, Indiana 93 (17-14) Apr. Apr. 1 New York 78, Cleveland 74 (18-14) Apr. 4 Indiana 108, New York 95 (18-15) Apr. 6 Orlando 81, New York 72 (18-16) Apr. 7 Charlotte 106, New York 82 (18-17) Apr. 9 New York 86, Atlanta 78 (19-17) Apr. 11 New York 93, New Jersey 78 (20-17) Apr. 13 New York 91, Philadelphia 72 (21-17) Apr. 14 Washington 95, New York 89 (21-18) Apr. 16 Detroit 80, New York 71 (21-19) Apr. 17 Toronto 93, New York 90 (21-20) Apr. 19 Philadelphia 72, New York 67 (21-21) Apr. 23 New York 110, Charlotte 105 (22-21) Apr. 25 New York 82, Miami 80 (23-21) Apr. 26 New York 91, Charlotte 84 (24-21) Apr. 28 Atlanta 76, New York 73 (24-22) Apr. 29 New York 85, Philadelphia 70 (25-22) May May 2 Indiana 94, New York 71 (25-23) May 3 New York 95, Boston 88 (26-23) May 5 New York 101, Miami 88 (27-23)

    Statistics

    Player G MPG FG% 3p% FT% REB APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG Ewing 38 34.2 .435 .000 .706 9.90 1.1 .79 2.63 2.61 2.80 17.3 Sprewell 37 33.3 .415 .273 3.10 4.20 2.5 1.24 .05 2.14 1.80 16.4 Houston 50 36.3 .418 .407 .862 3.00 2.7 .70 .18 2.60 2.30 16.3 Johnson 49 33.4 .459 .359 .817 5.80 2.4 .69 .20 1.82 3.00 12.0 Thomas 50 23.6 .462 .000 .611 5.70 1.1 .90 .34 1.46 3.20 8.1 Ward 50 31.1 .404 .356 .705 3.40 5.4 2.06 .16 2.62 2.10 7.6 Camby 46 20.5 .521 .000 .553 5.50 .3 .63 1.61 .85 2.80 7.2 Childs 48 27.0 .427 .383 .821 2.80 4.0 .92 .02 1.77 3.30 6.8 Dudley 46 14.9 .440 .000 .475 4.20 .2 .28 .83 .52 2.50 2.5 Davis 8 2.6 .412 .000 .500 1.40 .4 .00 .00 .13 .50 2.1 Williams 6 5.7 .500 .000 1.000 1.00 .0 .00 .33 .33 .30 1.7 Brunson 17 5.6 .286 .000 .278 .60 1.1 .53 .00 .71 .50 1.0 Wingate 20 4.6 .438 .000 .000 .40 .3 .20 .00 .30 .50 .7 Team Averages 50 242.0 .435 .353 .732 41.2 19.3 7.9 5.2 16.1 22.8 86.4 Opponents 50 242.0 .403 .353 .733 40.8 18.5 8.5 4.3 15.3 20.7 85.4

    East First Round

    (1) Miami Heat vs. (8) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 3-2

  • Game 1 @ Miami Arena, Miami (May 8): New York 95, Miami 75
  • Game 2 @ Miami Arena, Miami (May 10): Miami 83, New York 73
  • Game 3 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 12): New York 97, Miami 73
  • Game 4 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 14): Miami 87, New York 72
  • Game 5 @ Miami Arena, Miami (May 16): New York 78, Miami 77

    • Last Playoff Meeting: 1998 Eastern Conference First Round (New York won 3-2)

    East Conference Semifinals

    (4) Atlanta Hawks vs. (8) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 4-0

  • Game 1 @ Georgia Dome, Atlanta (May 18): New York 100, Atlanta 92
  • Game 2 @ Georgia Dome, Atlanta (May 20): New York 77, Atlanta 70
  • Game 3 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 23): New York 90, Atlanta 78
  • Game 4 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (May 24): New York 79, Atlanta 66

    • Last Playoff Meeting: 1971 Eastern Conference Semifinals (New York won 4-0)

    East Conference Finals

    (2) Indiana Pacers vs. (8) New York Knicks: Knicks win series 4-2

  • Game 1 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (May 30): New York 93, Indiana 90
  • Game 2 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (June 1): Indiana 88, New York 86
  • Game 3 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (June 5): New York 92, Indiana 91
  • Game 4 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (June 7): Indiana 90, New York 78
  • Game 5 @ Market Square Arena, Indianapolis (June 9): New York 101, Indiana 94
  • Game 6 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (June 11): New York 90, Indiana 82

    • Last Playoff Meeting: 1998 Eastern Conference Semifinals (New York won 4-2)

    NBA Finals

    (W1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (E8) New York Knicks: Spurs win series 4-1

  • Game 1 @ Alamodome, San Antonio (June 16): San Antonio 89, New York 77
  • Game 2 @ Alamodome, San Antonio (June 18): San Antonio 80, New York 67
  • Game 3 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (June 21): New York 89, San Antonio 81
  • Game 4 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (June 23): San Antonio 96, New York 89
  • Game 5 @ Madison Square Garden, New York City (June 25): San Antonio 78, New York 77

    • Playoff Statistics

    NAME G MIN FG% FT% 3FG 3GA TRB AST STL TO BLK PF AVG Sprewell 20 743 .419 .850 4 25 96 43 19 58 6 40 20.4 Houston 20 783 .443 .883 9 36 54 51 8 50 1 40 18.5 Ewing 11 347 .430 .778 0 0 96 6 7 10 8 35 13.1 Johnson 20 683 .426 .674 24 82 97 31 21 33 1 64 11.5 Camby 20 509 .566 .616 0 1 153 6 24 15 38 76 10.4 Thomas 20 419 .381 .696 0 0 110 7 15 19 12 76 5.3 Childs 20 494 .355 .731 9 28 47 73 13 30 1 64 4.7 Ward 20 494 .366 .750 18 56 46 75 35 24 3 45 4.6 Dudley 18 294 .421 .393 0 0 82 5 9 9 8 63 2.4 Brunson 9 18 .400 1.000 0 0 1 2 0 4 0 3 0.7 Williams 8 16 .200 --- 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 0.3

    References

    1998–99 New York Knicks season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA