1990–91 New York Knicks season

The 1990–91 New York Knicks season was the 45th season for the Knicks in the National Basketball Association.

Season summary

Off-season During the off-season, the Knicks signed free agent John Starks, who played in the Continental Basketball Association the previous season. For the season, the Knicks slightly updated their home and road uniforms, replacing their alternate "NY" logo on the left leg of their shorts with their current primary logo; these uniforms would remain in use until 1992.

Regular season The team changed their on-court leadership early in the season, as head coach Stu Jackson was fired, and replaced with John MacLeod after 15 games. The Knicks won six of their first nine games of the regular season, but then lost eight of their next nine games, and later on held a 20–27 record at the All-Star break. However, the team recovered to a 34–33 record near the end of the season, but then went 5–10 in their last 15 games. The Knicks finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 39–43 record, and earned the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference for the NBA playoffs.

Patrick Ewing averaged 26.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game, leading the Knicks in both scoring and blocks, as he was named to the All-NBA Second Team. In addition, Kiki Vandeweghe finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game, while Gerald Wilkins provided them with 13.8 points per game, and Charles Oakley averaged 11.2 points and led the Knicks with 12.1 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Maurice Cheeks replaced Mark Jackson as the Knicks' starting point guard this season; Cheeks contributed 7.8 points, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while Jackson contributed 8.8 points and 6.3 assists per game off the bench. Also off the bench, Starks provided the Knicks with 7.6 points and 3.3 assists per game, three-point specialist Trent Tucker contributed 7.1 points per game, and Kenny Walker averaged 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, Ewing was selected for the 1991 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Ewing scored 18 points along with 10 rebounds and 4 blocks, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 116–114. Ewing finished in eleventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, and also finished tied in seventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting. The Knicks finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 654,962 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season.

NBA playoffs In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1991 NBA playoffs, the Knicks faced off against the top–seeded, and Central Division champion Chicago Bulls, who were led by the trio of All-Star guard and Most Valuable Player of the season Michael Jordan, All-Star forward Scottie Pippen, and Horace Grant. In Game 1, the Knicks suffered a 41-point road loss to the Bulls, 126–85 at Chicago Stadium. After losing Game 2 on the road by a score of 89–79, the Knicks lost Game 3 to the Bulls at home, 103–94 at Madison Square Garden, thus losing the series in a three-game sweep.

The Bulls would advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, and defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the 1991 NBA Finals, winning their first-ever NBA championship.

Aftermath Following the season, Cheeks was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, and Tucker was traded to the Phoenix Suns.

NBA draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 17 Jerrod Mustaf PF/C Maryland

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot

z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 76 64 28.3 .499 .250 .814 2.3 5.7 1.7 .1 7.8 81 81 38.3 .514 .000 .745 11.2 3.0 1.0 3.2 26.6 22 0 4.9 .370 .333 .833 .5 .9 .4 .0 1.2 8 0 4.6 .333 1.000 1.3 .0 .0 .1 1.4 72 21 22.2 .492 .255 .731 2.7 6.3 .8 .1 8.8 62 5 13.3 .465 .000 .644 2.7 .6 .2 .2 4.3 76 74 36.0 .516 .000 .784 12.1 2.7 .8 .2 11.2 68 5 14.9 .459 .349 .722 2.1 .8 .3 .2 4.7 61 10 19.2 .439 .290 .752 2.1 3.3 1.0 .3 7.6 65 13 18.4 .440 .418 .630 1.6 1.7 .7 .1 7.1 75 72 32.3 .494 .362 .899 2.4 1.5 .6 .1 16.3 54 8 14.3 .435 .000 .780 2.9 .2 .3 .6 4.3 68 1 9.8 .447 .000 .567 2.6 .2 .3 .1 4.1 68 56 31.8 .473 .209 .820 3.0 4.0 1.2 .3 13.8

Playoffs PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 3 3 33.7 .609 .333 .500 3.0 5.3 1.0 .3 10.0 3 3 36.7 .400 .778 10.0 2.0 .3 1.7 16.7 3 0 12.0 .333 .0 2.7 .3 .3 .7 3 0 7.3 .800 .800 1.7 .0 .0 .3 4.0 3 3 33.3 .476 .500 10.3 1.0 .7 .3 7.7 3 0 12.0 .500 .333 .3 1.0 .3 .0 3.0 3 0 9.3 .400 1.000 1.0 2.0 .0 .0 2.0 3 2 22.0 .360 .400 1.000 4.0 3.0 .3 .0 8.0 3 3 33.0 .406 .600 .880 2.7 1.3 .3 .0 17.0 3 0 10.3 .500 1.000 2.3 .7 .3 .3 3.3 1 0 13.0 .667 .500 2.0 .0 .0 .0 9.0 3 1 26.0 .368 .286 1.000 2.7 1.7 1.7 .3 10.7

Source:

Awards and records The Knicks won the 1990 McDonald's Open by winning games against Italy's Scavolini Pesaro and Yugoslavia's POP 84.

Season Patrick Ewing was named to the All-NBA Second Team

References

External links 1990–91 New York Knickerbockers Statistics

1990–91 New York Knicks season

Bron en licentie