1998–99 New York Knicks season


The 1998–99 NBA season was the 52nd season of the National Basketball Association 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. The team also signed free agent Kurt Thomas and re-signed 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.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks defeated the top-seeded Miami Heat in five games,, 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, the Knicks became the first #8 seed to sweep a playoff series as the team 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 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, 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. The Knicks defense did not allow any opponent to score more than 96 points against them in their 20 playoff games. Following the season, Williams retired.
The team's season roster has been featured in the basketball game series NBA 2K since the 19th installment NBA 2K18.

Offseason

NBA Draft

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalitySchool/Club Team
238DeMarco JohnsonPFUNC Charlotte
244Sean MarksPFCalifornia

Transactions

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule

Feb.
Feb. 5 Orlando 93, New York 85
Feb. 7 Miami 83, New York 79
Feb. 10 New York 101, Washington 88
Feb. 11 New York 73, Chicago 68
Feb. 15 New York 78, Detroit 69
Feb. 16 New York 95, Toronto 85
Feb. 18 Cleveland 98, New York 74
Feb. 19 New York 78, Philadelphia 67
Feb. 21 New York 79, Chicago 63
Feb. 23 New York 82, New Jersey 74
Feb. 25 New York 115, Minnesota 113
Feb. 26 Boston 94, New York 80
Feb. 28 Detroit 89, New York 68

Mar.
Mar. 1 New York 85, Cleveland 78
Mar. 2 Miami 85, New York 84
Mar. 5 Milwaukee 88, New York 87
Mar. 7 New York 97, New Jersey 86
Mar. 9 Milwaukee 87, New York 86
Mar. 11 New York 98, Washington 86
Mar. 12 Chicago 76, New York 63
Mar. 14 New York 94, Charlotte 86
Mar. 15 New York 108, Milwaukee 102
Mar. 16 New York 113, Los Angeles Clippers 89
Mar. 18 Orlando 86, New York 78
Mar. 20 New York 96, Boston 78
Mar. 21 Toronto 85, New York 81
Mar. 22 Atlanta 80, New York 71
Mar. 24 Sacramento 92, New York 91
Mar. 26 New York 94, Phoenix 87
Mar. 28 Los Angeles Lakers 99, New York 91
Mar. 30 New York 94, Indiana 93

Apr.
Apr. 1 New York 78, Cleveland 74
Apr. 4 Indiana 108, New York 95
Apr. 6 Orlando 81, New York 72
Apr. 7 Charlotte 106, New York 82
Apr. 9 New York 86, Atlanta 78
Apr. 11 New York 93, New Jersey 78
Apr. 13 New York 91, Philadelphia 72
Apr. 14 Washington 95, New York 89
Apr. 16 Detroit 80, New York 71
Apr. 17 Toronto 93, New York 90
Apr. 19 Philadelphia 72, New York 67
Apr. 23 New York 110, Charlotte 105
Apr. 25 New York 82, Miami 80
Apr. 26 New York 91, Charlotte 84
Apr. 28 Atlanta 76, New York 73
Apr. 29 New York 85, Philadelphia 70

May
May 2 Indiana 94, New York 71
May 3 New York 95, Boston 88
May 5 New York 101, Miami 88

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

Playoffs

East First Round

Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks: Knicks win series 3-2
Last Playoff Meeting: 1998 Eastern Conference First Round

East Conference Semifinals

Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks: Knicks win series 4-0
Last Playoff Meeting: 1971 Eastern Conference Semifinals

East Conference Finals

Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks: Knicks win series 4-2
Last Playoff Meeting: 1998 Eastern Conference Semifinals

NBA Finals

San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks: Spurs win series 4-1
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