The

1999–2000 NBA season The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 54th season of the National Basketball Association. The season began on November 2, 1999, and ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA championship, beating the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2 in the 2000 ...

was the 53rd 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 ...

. The Knicks entered the season as runner-ups of the

1999 NBA Finals The 1999 NBA Finals was the championship round of the shortened 1998–99 NBA season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs took on the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks f ...

, where despite losing 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 five games, they became the first eighth seeded team to reach the NBA Finals. During the off-season, the team signed free agents John Wallace and

Andrew Lang Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a folkloristics, collector of folklore, folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectur ...

; Wallace previously played for the Knicks during the 1996–97 season. After advancing to the

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

as the #8 seed last year, the Knicks won their first three games of the regular season, but then lost seven of their next ten games, as

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 ...

missed the first 20 games due to Achilles tendonitis. However, they won 11 of their next 13 games, then later on held a 29–18 record at the All-Star break, and finished in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 50–32 record, earning the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference; it was their first 50-win season since 1996–97.

Allan Houston Allan Wade Houston Jr. (born April 20, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1993 to 2005. A shooting guard, Houston played nine seasons for the New York Knicks; h ...

led the team in scoring with 19.7 points per game and 106 three-point field goals, while

Latrell Sprewell Latrell Fontaine Sprewell (born September 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks, and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Du ...

, who became the team's starting small forward after playing off the bench the previous season, averaged 18.6 points and 1.3 steals per game, and Ewing provided the team with 15.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. In addition, Larry Johnson contributed 10.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while

Marcus Camby Marcus Dion Camby (born March 22, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006–07 NBA season, leading ...

played a sixth man role averaging 10.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game off the bench, but only played 59 games due to a knee injury. Meanwhile, Kurt Thomas provided with 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game also off the bench, while

Charlie Ward Charlie Ward Jr. (born October 12, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and current head coach for the Florida A&M Rattlers. Ward was an exceptional college football player as w ...

contributed 7.3 points, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game, along with 102 three-point field goals, and Chris Childs contributed 5.3 points and 4.0 assists per game off the bench. Houston and head coach

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 ...

both represented the Eastern Conference during the 2000 NBA All-Star Game in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, and Camby finished tied in sixth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting. In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2000 NBA playoffs, the Knicks swept the

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 three straight games. In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, they faced off against 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 ...

for the fourth consecutive year; despite trailing 3–2 after losing Game 5 on the road, 87–81, the Knicks would defeat the 2nd-seeded Heat in a tough, hard-fought seven-game series, but would lose in six games to 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in the Eastern Conference Finals, ending their hopes of reaching the Finals for a second straight year. The Pacers would lose in six games to 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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in the

2000 NBA Finals The 2000 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 1999–2000 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conferen ...

. The Knicks would not reach the Eastern Conference Finals again until

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

. The Knicks finished fourth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 810,103 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. This season marked an end of an era as Ewing was traded to 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 an off-season four-team trade, after playing fifteen seasons in New York. Also following the season,

Chris Dudley Christen Guilford Dudley (born February 22, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player and politician. He played 886 games across 16 seasons in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, Portland Trail Blazers, New Yo ...

was traded to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

, while Wallace was dealt to 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 ...

, and Lang was released to free agency.

Offseason

NBA draft

Roster

Regular season

Standings

:c – clinched conference title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs

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Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena (SBA), formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and t ...

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Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

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Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

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Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

Transactions

References

*
Knicks on Basketball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:1999-2000 New York Knicks Season New York Knicks seasons

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

1999 in sports in New York City 2000 in sports in New York City 1990s in Manhattan 2000s in Manhattan