New York Knickerbockers

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Team of Note

1998-1999 New York Knicks

Record: 27-23
Overall ranking: 450th, 1.119 points above average
    The 1998-1999 New York Knicks made the NBA’s ultimate Cinderella run.
    The Knicks are the only No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals since the league went to a 16-team postseason format for the 1983-1984 season.
    New York finished the lockout-shortened 1998-1999 season with a nondescript 26-24 record. The Knicks edged the Charlotte Hornets by one game for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Most assumed New York coach Jeff Van Gundy would lose his job after an inevitable one-and-done postseason.
    New York showed it planned to stick around during the playoffs with a 95-75 victory in Game 1 of its best-of-five first round series against the top-seeded Miami Heat. The Knicks would win the series when Allen Houston hit a running jumper at the buzzer in Game 5 to lift New York to a 78-77 victory.
    The revived Knicks swept the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals as chants of “Jeff Van Gundy” echoed through Madison Square Garden.
    New York took its final step with a 4-2 victory over the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals. Larry Johnson converted a four-point play in the waning seconds of Game 3 to propel the Knicks to a momentum-swinging 92-91 win. New York also overcame a 14-point deficit to win Game 5 in Indiana and take a 3-2 series lead.
    The Knicks played the last four games of the East finals without franchise icon Patrick Ewing, who injured his hand in the final seconds of Game 2. New York still overcame the Pacers, thanks to inspired play from guard Latrell Sprewell and fill-in center Marcus Camby.
Sprewell came to the Knicks from the Golden State Warriors before the season – as a villain – in the aftermath of his infamous choke of Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo. By the end of the Eastern Conference finals, television commercials joyfully promoted Sprewell as “The American Dream.”
    The clock struck midnight on the Cinderella Knicks in the NBA Finals. Ewing-less New York proved no match for the San Antonio Spurs’ twin towers, David Robinson and Tim Duncan. San Antonio won the series in five games.

New York Knickerbockers From Top to Bottom

All-time Ranking			W-L	Playoffs
15	1969-70	New York Knickerbockers	60-22	NBA champion
69	1993-94	New York Knickerbockers	57-25	NBA finalist
89	1972-73	New York Knickerbockers	57-25	NBA champion
101	1992-93	New York Knickerbockers	60-22	East finals
121	1968-69	New York Knickerbockers	54-28	East finals
140	1970-71	New York Knickerbockers	52-30	East finals
174	1952-53	New York Knickerbockers	47-23	NBA finalist
220	1983-84	New York Knickerbockers	47-35	East semifinals
223	1991-92	New York Knickerbockers	51-31	East semifinals
239	1988-89	New York Knickerbockers	52-30	East semifinals
261	1996-97	New York Knickerbockers	57-25	East semifinals
296	1994-95	New York Knickerbockers	55-27	East semifinals
315	1997-98	New York Knickerbockers	43-39	East semifinals
330	1982-83	New York Knickerbockers	44-38	East semifinals
339	1973-74	New York Knickerbockers	49-33	East finals
353	1971-72	New York Knickerbockers	48-34	NBA finalist
355	1949-50	New York Knickerbockers	40-28	East finals
364	1995-96	New York Knickerbockers	47-35	East semifinals
372	1947-48	New York Knickerbockers	26-22	BAA quarterfinals
379	2000-01	New York Knickerbockers	48-34	East first round
398	1980-81	New York Knickerbockers	50-32	East first round
406	1967-68	New York Knickerbockers	43-39	East semifinals
448	1999-00	New York Knickerbockers	50-32	East finals
449	1957-58	New York Knickerbockers	35-37
461	1948-49	New York Knickerbockers	32-28	East finals
472	1998-99	New York Knickerbockers	27-23	NBA finalist
502	1989-90	New York Knickerbockers	45-37	East semifinals
526	1951-52	New York Knickerbockers	37-29	NBA finalist
534	1946-47	New York Knickerbockers	33-27	BAA semifinals
537	1958-59	New York Knickerbockers	40-32	East semifinals
544	1950-51	New York Knickerbockers	36-30	NBA finalist
584	1954-55	New York Knickerbockers	38-34	East semifinals
585	1956-57	New York Knickerbockers	36-36
588	1976-77	New York Knickerbockers	40-42
599	1987-88	New York Knickerbockers	38-44	East first round
609	1953-54	New York Knickerbockers	44-28	East semifinals
610	1955-56	New York Knickerbockers	35-37
639	1990-91	New York Knickerbockers	39-43	East first round
649	1977-78	New York Knickerbockers	43-39	East semifinals
684	1974-75	New York Knickerbockers	40-42	East first round
696	1979-80	New York Knickerbockers	39-43
702	1975-76	New York Knickerbockers	38-44
729	1959-60	New York Knickerbockers	27-48
746	2002-03	New York Knickerbockers	37-45
784	2003-04	New York Knickerbockers	39-43	East first round
818	1981-82	New York Knickerbockers	33-49
821	1965-66	New York Knickerbockers	30-50
860	2004-05	New York Knickerbockers	33-49
865	1966-67	New York Knickerbockers	36-45	East semifinals
882	2006-07	New York Knickerbockers	33-49
901	1964-65	New York Knickerbockers	31-49
908	1978-79	New York Knickerbockers	31-51
944	1961-62	New York Knickerbockers	29-51
955	2001-02	New York Knickerbockers	30-52
964	1984-85	New York Knickerbockers	24-58
1005	1985-86	New York Knickerbockers	23-59
1017	1960-61	New York Knickerbockers	21-58
1032	1986-87	New York Knickerbockers	24-58
1057	1962-63	New York Knickerbockers	21-59
1063	1963-64	New York Knickerbockers	22-58
1064	2005-06	New York Knickerbockers	23-59