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| THE NEW YORK KNICKS QUEST FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP |
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| LET'S GO KNICKS! |
| The 1999-2000 Knicks regular season came to an end on April 19th. The Knicks placed 3rd in the Eastern Conference and were matched up to play the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. After sweeping the Raptors in Round 1, the Knicks were set to play their bitter rival, the Miami Heat in Round 2. After a hard fought series, the Knicks came back, down 3 games to 2, to win the series 4 games to 3. The Knicks were set to face Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Championships. The Pacers proved to be too much for the New York Knicks as they won the Eastern Conference Finals 4-2. |
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Pacers beat Knicks 4-2 in series.
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| Game | Date | Place | Time | Final |
| Game 1 | Tue./ May 23, 2000 | Away | 8:30 pm | L - 102-88 |
| Game 2 | Thu./ May 25, 2000 | Away | 8:30 pm | L - 88-84 |
| Game 3 | Sat./ May 27, 2000 | Home | 3:30 pm | W - 98-95 |
| Game 4 | Mon./ May 29, 2000 | Home | 5:30 pm | W - 91-89 |
| Game 5 | Wed./ May 31, 2000 | Away | 9:00 pm | L - 88-79 |
| Game 6 | Fri./ June 2, 2000 | Home | 7:00 pm | L - 93-80 |
Eastern Conference Championships - Round 3 - Game 1 - Knicks at Indiana
Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals was not a very good game for the New York Knicks, who had just come off the high of winning Game 7 on the road in Miami. The fans in Conseco Field House
were on their feet for most of the game as the Pacers took an early lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Scoring 35 points in just the first quarter of play, it was clear that the Knicks were
not playing the defensive style of basketball that they are known for. This game, unlike most of the Knicks' playoff games, would not be decided by last second heroics, and would not even be decided by a few points.
This game was clearly a blow out, and at one point in the game, the Pacers held a 19 point lead. In the third quarter, when the Knicks managed to cut the deficit to two, the Pacers responded with a great shooting performance
that no defense could stop. New York was never able to tie the game and never held the lead. The final score of the game was 102-88 in what seemed to be a very easy Indiana Pacer victory.
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Eastern Conference Championships - Round 3 - Game 2 - Knicks at Indiana
Game 2 was much closer than the first game of the series, as the Knicks came out ready to fight. The Indiana Pacers witnessed New York's defensive intensity for the first time in the series, and it looked as if the Knicks had control of the game throughout.
Midway through the first quarter, Patrick Ewing injured his right foot, and did not return to the game. This is the third year in a row that Ewing has been injured in an Indiana/New York playoff series. In Ewing's absence, Larry Johnson and Kurt Thomas both had big games
that kept New York ahead of Indiana for most of the contest. With 55 seconds left on the game clock, the Knicks found themselves tied with
the Pacers at 84 points apiece. Allan Houston missed a bank shot, and with 28 seconds left to play, Reggie Miller was fouled. After hitting both free throws, the Pacers led 86-84. The Knicks then put the ball in Latrell Sprewell's hands to face Travis Best in a one-on-one matchup.
Sprewell missed a turnaround jumper that could have tied the game for the Knicks. The Pacers had the ball, and Dale Davis, who was fouled at the other end of the court, missed both shots. Surprisingly, Davis hustled from the foul line to grab his own rebound, and dished the ball to
Jalen Rose, who dunked the ball with 2.8 seconds left to seal the victory for Indiana and a 2-0 lead in the best of 7 series.
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Eastern Conference Championships - Round 3 - Game 3 - Indiana at Knicks
Game 3 started without Patrick Ewing, who watched the game from the bench, after injuring his foot in Game 2. Things didn't look good for the Knicks without their legendary center and team tri-captain in the line-up, and got even worse when in the second quarter, Marcus Camby
went down with a leg injury. Camby was taken off the floor and straight to the hospital for an MRI exam. He did not return to the game, and the Knicks were left with a much smaller team than the Indiana Pacers. Proving that the Knicks are a team that deals with adversity better than any team in the league,
the Knicks, with their backs up against the wall, showed that they play their best basketball when situations seem to be at their worst. Without Ewing and Camby, Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston took the game in their own hands, and together scored 60 of
the Knicks' 98 points. Chris Dudley played the center position for the injured Ewing and Camby, and filled in well, as he held Rik Smits to only five points in the second half. With 23.8 seconds left in the game, Chris Childs hit two free throws to give New York an eight-point advantage. The Pacers
kept it close in the final seconds of the game, when Austin Croshere hit a three-pointer with only 4.3 seconds left, to cut the Knick lead down to three. The Knicks were able to inbound the ball and hold on to the lead and the victory.
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Eastern Conference Championships - Round 3 - Game 4 - Indiana at Knicks
The Knicks turned in the best first half performance they had exhibited in the playoffs, displaying not only the defensive toughness that they are known for, but also showing an unselfish offensive attack that kept the Pacers guessing which Knick was going to score next. New York
came out ready to play with a level of intensity that could not be matched by the Indiana Pacers. The team came out strong and finished the first quarter with a score of 33-19, their
highest scoring quarter in the playoffs. Without Ewing, and with Sprewell, Camby and Johnson playing injured, no one would have expected that the Knicks, a team dealing with so much hurt, would end the first half with a 17 point lead, and a score of 57-40. The team went into the locker room to a two-minute standing ovation
from the sold out Madison Square Garden crowd. After the half, Indiana came out of the locker room inspired and determined to tie up the game and head back to Indiana for Game 5 with a 3-1 lead in the series. The 17 point lead had diminished to just 3 with 10.5 seconds left in the game, but Sprewell was then fouled
and had a chance to seal the victory. After missing both shots, Jalen Rose was called for a lane violation, and Sprewell had a second chance to hit the shot. Sprewell made the basket and as the Pacers hit a meaningless shot at the buzzer, the Knicks won the game and
tied the series at two games apiece.
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Eastern Conference Championships - Round 3 - Game 5 - Knicks at Indiana
New York started Game 5 with a flurry of baskets and a shooting display that was comparable to the first quarter of Game 4. Sparked by the return of their captain, Patrick Ewing, the Knicks outplayed the Indiana Pacers in the opening minutes of the game, playing unselfish basketball and suffocating defense. The inspired Knicks played great basketball and built an 18 point advantage. The Conseco Fieldhouse fans got behind the Pacers, who quickly jumped back
into the game, overcoming the huge first quarter defecit. New York, so dominant in the first quarter, found themselves down two points, 42-40, at the break.
Having only scored eight points in the second quarter, New York set an NBA Playoff all-time scoring low in a quarter. With a miserable shooting percentage, and too many turnovers,
the Knicks' poor offense was attributed to an inspired Pacer defense and a jolt of electricity from the crowd that gave the Pacers all the momentum they needed. After both teams came out of the locker room, the Knicks still could not buy a basket.
The Pacers had their largest lead at 12 points in the fourth, and with 4:11 left in the game, Allan Houston hit a three-pointer that brought the Knicks within 6 points. Sam Perkins answered Houston, who scored 25 points for the Knicks, with a three-pointer of his own. The Pacers answered every shot that New York made, and went
on to win a very hard fought Game 5, by a score of 88-79.
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Eastern Conference Championships - Round 3 - Game 6 - Indiana at Knicks
In what turned out to be the last game of the season for the New York Knicks, Game 6 would go down in history books titled "Reggie's Revenge." Coming home to Madison Square Garden, the Knicks knew that Game 6 was the most crucial game of the series and the season. Faced with a must win situation, the Knicks uncharacteristically came out flat and trailed the inspired Pacers 50-41 at the half. Down by 9 points entering the third quarter, the Knicks made their final push to force a Game 7 and keep their dream of returning to the NBA Finals alive.
Patrick Ewing and Latrell Sprewell scored the Knicks' first 19 points of the quarter, as the Knicks turned the nine point deficit into a three point lead with 2:13
left in the third. Up 60-57, the biggest lead the Knicks would have, Reggie Miller took over. He nailed a 25-foot three pointer that tied the game at 62, and ended the third quarter in a dead heat. Reggie Miller then took the game into his own hands by scoring 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter. The Knicks had no chance of getting back into the game, as the Pacers kept feeding the ball to Miller
. Having lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Knicks in 1994 and last year, Miller and the Indiana Pacers got their revenge in front of a stunned New York crowd. The game ended with a score of 93-80, as the Knicks lost Game 6 and the Eastern Conference Finals.
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Last Updated On:
Friday, April 20, 2001 | |
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