The

1995–96 NBA season The 1995–96 NBA season was the 50th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), though the 50th anniversary was not celebrated until the following season. The Chicago Bulls defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Fina ...

was the 50th season for the

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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

in the

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

. After

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

left to coach 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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

, the Knicks hired

Don Nelson Donald Arvid Nelson (born May 15, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player and head coach. Nelson is second all-time in regular season wins of any coach in NBA history, with 1,335 (he held the record for most wins for almost 12 ...

as their new head coach (their "Plan B" after

Chuck Daly Charles Jerome Daly (July 20, 1930 – May 9, 2009) was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to two consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in 1989 and 1990—during the team's "Bad Boys" era— ...

rejected their offer). The team also signed free agent Gary Grant in November. The Knicks won ten of their first twelve games of the regular season, leading to a 16–5 start to the season, and holding a 30–16 record at the All-Star break. However, the team never seemed to get under Nelson down the stretch, as he was fired and replaced with long-time assistant

Jeff Van Gundy Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American basketball coach and former commentator who is currently the lead assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. Van Gundy previously served as head coach of the New York Knicks and ...

after 59 games. At mid-season, the Knicks traded Charles D. Smith, and second-year forward

Monty Williams Tavares Montgomery Williams (born October 8, 1971) is an American professional basketball coach, executive, and former player of the National Basketball Association (NBA) who is the head coach of the TMI Episcopal’s boys basketball team. He pre ...

to the

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 Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in exchange for J.R. Reid and

Brad Lohaus Bradley Allen Lohaus (born September 29, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Boston Celtics in the second round (45th pick overall) of the 1987 NBA draft. A 6'11" center-power forward from the Univ ...

, and dealt

Doug Christie Douglas Dale Christie (born May 9, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at , Christie played the shooting guar ...

and

Herb Williams Herbert L. Williams (born February 16, 1958) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eighteen seasons from 1981 to 1999. Williams served as the interim head coach and the assistant c ...

to the expansion

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

in exchange for Willie Anderson and Victor Alexander. However, after playing just one game for the Raptors, Williams was released and re-signed by the Knicks for the remainder of the season. Under Van Gundy, the Knicks finished the regular season playing around .500 basketball, finishing in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 47–35 record, earning the #5 seed in the Eastern Conference, and qualifying for the

NBA playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...

for the ninth consecutive year.

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is a basketball ambassador for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played most o ...

led the team with 22.5 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, and was selected for the

1996 NBA All-Star Game The 1996 NBA All-Star Game was the 46th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, an exhibition basketball game played on February 11, 1996. The event was held at the Alamodome in San Antonio and was a part of the 50th season of the NBA. The game was ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. In addition, last season's Sixth Man of the Year Anthony Mason became the team's starting small forward, averaging 14.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, while

Derek Harper Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guar ...

provided the team with 14.0 points, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game, along with 121 three-point field goals, John Starks contributed 12.6 points and 1.3 steals per game, and led the Knicks with 143 three-point field goals, and three-point specialist

Hubert Davis Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball, North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching care ...

provided with 10.7 points per game and 127 three-point field goals off the bench.

Charles Oakley Charles Oakley (born December 18, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. Oakley is best known for playing 10 of his 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association with the New York Knicks. As a power forward, he consisten ...

averaged 11.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, but only played 53 games due to a broken thumb, and an eye injury. In the Eastern Conference First Round of the

1996 NBA playoffs The 1996 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1995–96 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls defeating the Western Conference champion Seattle Supe ...

, the Knicks swept the 4th-seeded

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in three straight games. However, they would lose in five games to the 72–10

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals. The Bulls would defeat the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

in six games in the

1996 NBA Finals The 1996 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 1995–96 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics (64–18) played the Eastern ...

, winning their fourth NBA championship in six years. The Knicks finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 810,283 at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

during the regular season. Following the season, Mason and Lohaus were both traded to the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

, while Harper re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

, Davis was traded to the

, and Reid, Anderson, Grant and Alexander were all released to free agency. For the season, the Knicks added the city name "New York" above their primary logo. They also added new blue alternate road uniforms with black side panels, which they wore on the road frequently, that they would become their primary road jerseys for the 1997–98 season, where they would change their home uniforms, adding blue side panels to their jerseys and shorts.

Offseason

NBA draft

The Knicks had no draft picks for 1995.

Roster

Roster notes

* Center Victor Alexander was acquired by the Knicks from the expansion

in a mid-season trade, but was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

due to a foot injury and weight problems, missed the entire regular season, and never played for the Knicks. * Small forward Anthony Tucker was on the injured reserve list due to a back injury, missed the entire regular season, and never played for the Knicks. * Center

was traded at mid-season to the Raptors, where he would only play just one game before being waived, and was re-signed by the Knicks for the remainder of the season.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , April 25 , @

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

W 106–83
,

(23) , three players tied (7) , three players tied (7) ,

Gund Arena Rocket Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The building is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). It also serves as a sec ...

16,419 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 2 , April 27 , @

W 84–80
, Anthony Mason (23) , Mason, Ewing (12) , John Starks (7) ,

17,232 , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , May 1 ,

W 81–76
, John Starks (22) ,

(10) , three players tied (4) ,

19,763 , 3–0 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 1 , May 5 , @

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

L 84–91
,

(21) ,

(16) ,

(5) ,

United Center The United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

24,394 , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , May 7 , @

L 80–91
,

(23) ,

(11) ,

(5) ,

24,328 , 0–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 3 , May 11 ,

W 102–99 (OT)
, John Starks (30) , Oakley, Ewing (13) , John Starks (6) ,

19,763 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , May 12 ,

L 91–94
,

(29) ,

(10) ,

(5) ,

19,763 , 1–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 5 , May 14 , @

L 81–94
,

(22) ,

(13) ,

(6) ,

24,396 , 1–4 , -

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Player Statistics Citation:

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Player Transactions Citation:

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

References

*
Knicks on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1995-96 New York Knicks season New York Knicks seasons 1995 in sports in New York City 1996 in sports in New York City New York Knick 1990s in Manhattan

Offseason

NBA draft

Roster

Roster notes

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

See also

References