The 1999 NBA Finals was the championship round of the shortened

1998–99 NBA season The 1998–99 NBA season was the 53rd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to a lockout, the season did not start until February 5, 1999, after a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached between the NBA and the N ...

, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

took on the Eastern Conference champion

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

for the title, with the Spurs holding

home court advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...

. The Spurs defeated the Knicks 4 games to 1 to win their first NBA championship.

Background

The 1998-1999 NBA season was shortened due to a labor dispute that led to a

lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...

. The owners and the

National Basketball Players Association The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) is a labor union that represents National Basketball Association (NBA) players. It was founded in 1954, making it the oldest trade union of the four major professional sports leagues in the Uni ...

reached an agreement to end the dispute on January 20, 1999. The 1998–99 season, which began on February 5, 1999, was shortened from the usual 82-game schedule to 50 games per team.

San Antonio Spurs

The 1998–99 season was the second season of the " Twin Towers" pairing of

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

and star second-year forward

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...

. Robinson and Duncan had been teammates since the Spurs drafted Duncan with the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. The Spurs earned this draft pick through the draft lottery due to a 62-loss 1996–97 season in which Robinson had a season-ending injury and the team collapsed. During the 1996–97 season, veteran coach

Bob Hill Robert W. Hill''The Sporting News: 1992-93 Official NBA Register''. St. Louis, Missouri: The Sporting News Publishing Co. 1992. (born November 24, 1948) is an American basketball coach. Hill grew up in Mount Sterling, Ohio, moving to Worthingto ...

was fired and replaced by then-general manager

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Taking over as coach of the Spur ...

. In the 1997–98 season, the Spurs won 56 games, but were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

. In the 1998–99 season, the Spurs recovered from a 6–8 start to the season to win 31 of their last 36 games. The Spurs qualified for the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference and tied the Utah Jazz for the league's best regular-season record (37-13). After defeating the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

in four games, San Antonio recorded back-to-back sweeps in the second round and the conference finals, defeating the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

and

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

. The victory over Portland gave the Spurs their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.

New York Knicks

The Knicks had a more difficult time reaching the playoffs than the Spurs did. Toward the end of the season, with the team teetering on the brink of making the playoffs, New York fired general manager

Ernie Grunfeld Ernest Grunfeld (born April 24, 1955) is a Romanian-American former professional basketball player and former general manager in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In college at the University of Tennessee, he set a new record as the sch ...

. The Knicks barely qualified for the playoffs and received the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks faced the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, the top Eastern Conference seed, in the first round. When Allan Houston made a shot with 0.8 seconds remaining in Game 5 of that series, the Knicks were victorious and became the second team in NBA history after the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

to win a playoff series as the eighth seed. The Knicks faced the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

next. Hawks center

Dikembe Mutombo Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966) is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has becom ...

guaranteed a victory, but the Knicks prevailed in a four-game sweep to set up a matchup with the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

in the Eastern Conference Finals. Knicks center

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the N ...

was lost for the series after the first two games against Indiana. In the third game, with 11.9 seconds left and the Knicks trailing 91–88, the Knicks' Larry Johnson made a three-point shot while being fouled and converted the subsequent free throw for a game-winning four-point play; the victory gave the Knicks a 2–1 lead in the series. The Knicks won Game 6 and prevailed in the series.

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

The Knicks and Spurs did not play each other in the regular season.

1999 NBA Finals team rosters

San Antonio Spurs

New York Knicks

Result

The Spurs won the NBA Finals 4 games to 1. Spurs

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the finals. On June 25 (two years to the day that Duncan was drafted by the Spurs), with 47 seconds to go in Game 5,

Avery Johnson Avery DeWitt Johnson (born March 25, 1965) is an American basketball television commentator and former player and coach who most recently served as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. He is currently an NBA and college ...

hit the game-winner. The Knicks scored 39 points in the second half, and Sprewell scored 25 of them, with fourteen of his points coming in the fourth quarter. However, he could not hit either of his couple of jump shots in the last half-minute of the game that could have affected the outcome. Tim Duncan scored 31 points and nine rebounds in the decisive Game 5 while averaging 27.4 points and fourteen rebounds with 2.4 assists and 2.2 blocks in the Finals.

Series summary

The Finals were played using a 2–3–2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with

. The NBA, after experimenting in the early years, restored this original format for the Finals between 1985 and 2013. In 2014, the Finals returned to a 2–2–1–1–1 site format.

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Player statistics

;San Antonio Spurs , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .800 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , -! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 45.8 , , .537 , , .000 , , .795 , , 14.0 , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , 2.2 , , 27.4 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 35.0 , , .447 , , .308 , , .870 , , 4.0 , , 2.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 11.6 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 36.2 , , .333 , , .278 , , .636 , , 3.0 , , 3.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 19.2 , , .324 , , .375 , , .000 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.6 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 39.2 , , .500 , , .000 , , .600 , , 2.6 , , 7.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 9.2 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .400 , , .500 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.8 , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 37.0 , , .424 , , .000 , , .688 , , 11.8 , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , 3.0 , , 16.6 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 12.8 , , .200 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 1.2 ;New York Knicks , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 1.0 , , .001 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 3 , , 27.0 , , .500 , , .000 , , .750 , , 7.8 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 2.0 , , 9.6 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 21.0 , , .227 , , .200 , , .500 , , 1.2 , , 2.2 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 2.4 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 2 , , 15.6 , , .250 , , .000 , , .333 , , 3.8 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 1.2 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 44.4 , , .427 , , .167 , , .923 , , 3.2 , , 3.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 21.6 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 37.0 , , .286 , , .111 , , .615 , , 4.8 , , 1.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 7.6 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 44.2 , , .410 , , .286 , , .842 , , 6.6 , , 2.6 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 26.0 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 21.0 , , .344 , , .000 , , .600 , , 7.6 , , 0.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 5.6 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 5 , , 29.0 , , .462 , , .333 , , .500 , , 3.2 , , 3.6 , , 2.6 , , 0.4 , , 5.8 , - , align="left" , , , 2 , , 0 , , 1.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0

Broadcasting

The 1999 NBA Finals was aired in the United States on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, with

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

and Doug Collins on play-by-play and color commentary respectively.

Hannah Storm Hannah Lynn Storen Hicks (born June 13, 1962), known professionally as Hannah Storm, is an American television sports journalist, serving as the anchor of ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' Face to Face. She was also host of the ''NBA Countdown'' pregame s ...

served as the studio host while

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for ''NBA TV''. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Grea ...

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...

and Peter Vecsey served as studio analysts.

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad (born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL Draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known as Bobby Moor ...

and Jim Gray served as sideline reporters. Locally, the Finals also marked the comeback of

Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American retired sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he ...

following his infamous

sex scandal Public scandals involving allegations or information about possibly immoral sexual activities are often associated with the sexual affairs of film stars, politicians, famous athletes, or others in the public eye. Sex scandals receive attention ...

two years prior. Albert served as the Knicks' radio play-by-play announcer on

WFAN WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...

with long-time partner

John Andariese John Kenneth Andariese (August 19, 1938 – March 13, 2017), nicknamed "Johnny Hoops", was a New York basketball analyst on both radio and television for more than 40 years. Andariese broadcast for the New York Knicks and announced some of the mo ...

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

rehired Albert shortly after and he eventually returned to the lead play-by-play role in 2000.

Aftermath

In 2000, the Spurs became the first NBA champion since the 1985–86 Celtics to fail to win a second consecutive title. The Spurs won 53 games in the 1999–2000 season, but were severely impaired by

Sean Elliott Sean Michael Elliott (born February 2, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who starred at small forward in both the college and professional ranks. He attended the University of Arizona, where he had a standout career as ...

's early season kidney transplant and

's late-season knee injury. The Spurs were eliminated in the first round of the

2000 NBA Playoffs The 2000 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1999–2000 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Indiana ...

by the Phoenix Suns. The team went on to win NBA titles in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. , the 1999 NBA Finals remains the Knicks' last NBA Finals appearance. The following season, the Knicks won fifty games but fell to the

in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. After that season, the

era came to an end when Ewing was traded to the SuperSonics. Over the fifteen ensuing post-Ewing seasons, the Knicks have been among the least successful NBA franchises, with only three winning seasons and one playoff series win.

References

External links

NBA History
* {{NBA on ESPN Radio National Basketball Association Finals

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

20th century in San Antonio

Sports competitions in New York City Sports competitions in San Antonio 1990s in Manhattan Madison Square Garden

Background

San Antonio Spurs

New York Knicks

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

1999 NBA Finals team rosters

San Antonio Spurs

New York Knicks

Result

Series summary

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Player statistics

Broadcasting

Aftermath

See also

References

External links