Knicks Open Finals 105-95 Over Spurs — When Was The Last Time The Knicks Won A Championship
The Knicks answered when was the last time the knicks won a championship with a 105-95 win over the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio on Wednesday night. It was their first Finals game since 1999, and the gap between those appearances tells the story of how long this franchise waited to get back here.
Barbara Barker On 1999
Barbara Barker said 27 years had passed since the Knicks' previous Finals trip, and she drew a direct line from this team to the one that faced San Antonio in 1999. Her point was blunt: "This Knicks team is both better and more beloved than the last Knicks team that went to the Finals".
That earlier run came after a 1998 reshaping of the roster that included the trade of Charles Oakley for Marcus Camby in June and the move that sent John Starks to Golden State for Latrell Sprewell a day after the lockout ended. The 1999 group also lost Patrick Ewing to a torn Achilles in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana, a blow that changed the shape of the run before the Finals even arrived.
Spurs And The 1999 Run
The connection to San Antonio is exact. The Knicks played the Spurs in the 1999 NBA Finals, and Wednesday's opener put the same matchup back at center stage 27 years later.
That 1999 team still reached the title round after beating the No. 1 seed Miami in the first round and Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals. Sprewell then averaged 26 points in the Finals after Ewing's injury, carrying more of the offense than the roster had expected when the postseason started.
New York's 11-Game Surge
This version arrived in much stronger form. The Knicks entered the Finals on an 11-game winning streak, with sweeps in their last two series, and they backed that form with a 105-95 road win in Game 1.
The difference from 1999 is not only the result in San Antonio. It is the way the current group has moved through the postseason without the roster instability that marked the older run, and it has now taken the first step toward turning a long-awaited return into something more than a reunion with history.
