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The 1998–99 New York Knicks season was the 52nd season of NBA basketball in New York City, New York.〔(1998-99 New York Knicks )〕 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, New York. Key contributors included Patrick Ewing, Marcus Camby, Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston. The team finished with a 27-23 record, to secure the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. New York made it all the way to the NBA Finals, the first time in NBA history a No. 8 seed had advanced that far in the playoffs. ==Recap== The Knicks started the season with championship aspirations as they had acquired Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby via trade. However, because of the lockout shortened season, and injuries to Sprewell and Patrick Ewing, the team had to build chemistry on the fly, and barely made the playoffs with a 27-23 record. New York had to win six of its remaining eight games just to qualify.〔http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E2D91331F931A25751C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all〕 The Knicks attempted to defy expectations against the top-seeded Miami Heat in the First Round and took two of the first three games, including a 20-point blowout in game one. With a chance to win the series at home in Game 4, the Knicks squandered an eight-point lead and the Heat came charging back to win 87-72 to set up a decisive Game 5. Game 5 was a defensive struggle all the way, but Miami held a one-point lead with only a 2.7 seconds left. However, shooting guard Allan Houston hit one of the biggest shots in Knicks' history, as his running one-hander indecisively bounced on the rim before falling with 0.8 seconds in play to give New York a thrilling 78-77 victory.〔http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1999/playoffs/eastern/news/1999/05/16/knicks_heat_game5/index.html〕 The Knicks cruised past the 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.〔http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1999/playoffs/eastern/news/1999/05/20/knicks_hawks/〕 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.〔http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CEED71E30F930A35755C0A96F958260〕 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.〔http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1999/playoffs/eastern/news/1999/06/05/pacers_knicks_game3/〕 The Knicks would 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.〔http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/1999/playoffs/eastern/news/1999/06/11/pacers_knicks_game6/index.html〕 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.〔http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E3DE133AF935A15755C0A96F958260〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1998–99 New York Knicks season」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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