New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson (11) drives to the basket during the second half of Game 1 in the Eastern Conference finals NBA basketball playoffs series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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For much of the 1990s, the New York Knicks played into late May and sometimes in June, advancing deep in the NBA playoffs. Although they never won a title, they played in the finals in 1994 and 1999. Once the 2000s rolled around, though, the Knicks were among the league’s most disappointing franchises, struggling on and off the court.
Now, they are back in the finals for the first time in 27 years and facing the same team they played back then. On Wednesday night, the San Antonio Spurs host the Knicks in Game 1 of the finals in a matchup that should generate significant national interest and television ratings.
The Knicks are seeking their first title since 1973 against a Spurs team that has an emerging generational star in Victor Wembanyama, a 7-foot-5 center who won the defensive player of the year award last month and made first team All-NBA.
The Knicks will be back on the court after a nine-day break. They have 11 consecutive victories by a combined 262 points, the largest point differential in an 11-game stretch in NBA history. They won the final three games of their first round series against the Atlanta Hawks and then had consecutive four-game sweeps over the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Spurs, meanwhile, are coming off a 111-103 Game 7 road victory Saturday night over the Oklahoma City Thunder, the reigning champions. The Spurs (62-60) and Thunder (64-18) had the NBA’s best regular season records, while the Knicks were third in the Eastern Conference at 53-29.
During the regular season, the teams split their two games, with the Spurs winning 134-132 in San Antonio on New Year’s Eve and the Knicks winning 114-89 in New York on March 1. The Knicks also defeated the Spurs 124-113 on Dec. 16 in the NBA Cup in Las Vegas, a result that did not count in the regular season standings.
Despite their inconsistent regular season, the Knicks are playing as well as any team in recent memory in the postseason. They are shooting 51.5% from the field and defeating teams by an average of 19.4 points per game, the largest difference for a playoff team entering the finals in NBA history. Point guard Jalen Brunson is leading the Knicks with 26.9 points and 6.6 assists per game, while the other four starters are averaging in double figures and playing well together.
Still, the Knicks have not faced a team as talented as the Spurs this postseason or a better player than Wembanyama, who is averaging 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game. Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, is just 22 years old, while starting guards Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are 21 and 20, respectively. As such, the Spurs look like they could be in the title mix for a while, just like they were when they won five championships from 1999 through 2014.
The Knicks have never had a stretch similar to that, but they have been in the finals eight times. Below, we look at the previous occasions the Knicks played in the finals.
1951 – Lost To Rochester Royals In 7 Games
Since the NBA’s predecessor league, the Basketball Association of America, started in the 1946-47 season, this was the first time the finals had been decided in seven games. The Royals won the first three games before losing the next three, sending the series to a Game 7 at Edgerton Park Arena, their home court.
The Knicks trailed by 14 points in the second quarter, but they tied the score 60-60 after three quarters and led 74-72 with two minutes remaining. The Royals, though, ended up winning, 79-75, for their first title. Arnie Risen led Rochester with 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Bob Davies had 20 points. Vince Boryla and Max Zaslofsky each had 16 points for the Knicks.
Red Holzman, who would coach the Knicks to their lone titles in 1970 and 1973, scored two points for Rochester. The Royals moved to Cincinnati in 1957, became the Kansas City-Omaha Kings in 1972 and have been the Sacramento Kings since 1985. The franchise has never made the NBA finals since winning its only championship 75 years ago.
1952 – Lost To Minneapolis Lakers In 7 Games
A year after making the finals, the Knicks nearly didn’t even get out of the first round. They needed an 88-87 victory over the Boston Celtics in double overtime in the decisive Game 3 to advance to the Eastern Division finals, where they defeated the Syracuse Nationals in four games in the best-of-five series.
In the finals, the Knicks tied the series at three games apiece by winning Game 6 at the 69th Regiment Armory, their home court located on Lexington Ave. between East 25th and 26th Streets. But the Lakers then won 82-65 in Game 7, clinching the first of three consecutive championships. George Mikan, a 6-foot-10 Hall of Fame center, led the Lakers with 22 points and 19 rebounds.
1953 – Lost To Minneapolis Lakers In 5 Games
For the third consecutive season, the Knicks won the Eastern Division and advanced to the finals, where they again lost. New York won the first game on Minneapolis’s home court, but the Knicks then lost four consecutive games at 69th Regiment Armory, as the Lakers won their fourth title in five seasons. The Lakers had six players score in double figures in the decisive 91-84 Game 5 victory.
The Lakers won again the next season, their last title before they moved to Los Angeles in 1960. The franchise now has 17 championships, the second-most in history behind the Boston Celtics’ 18 titles.
1970 – Defeated Los Angeles Lakers In 7 Games
From 1957 through 1969, the Boston Celtics 11 titles in 13 seasons. But under first-year coach Tommy Heinsohn and with center Bill Russell retired, the Celtics struggled in 1970, missing the playoffs and paving the way for the Knicks to win their first championship.
After finishing with an NBA-best 60-22 record during the regular season, the Knicks needed seven games to defeat the Baltimore Bullets in the first round. They then won in five games over the Milwaukee Bucks and advanced to their first finals in 17 years, where they faced the Lakers, the franchise they lost to in their three other finals appearances. But this season, the Knicks broke the losing streak, thanks to a 113-99 victory in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. Willis Reed, who had sat out Game 6 with a thigh injury, hobbled out on to the court for Game 7.
Reed the league’s Most Valuable Player, inspired the team to victory even though he only finished with four points. Walt Frazier, who is now the color commentator for Knicks’ games on the MSG Network, had a game-high 36 points and 19 assists in a performance that ranks as arguably the best in franchise history.
1972 – Lost To Los Angeles Lakers In 5 Games
During the regular season, the Lakers won a then-NBA record 69 games and outscored their opponents by more than 12 points per game. The Knicks, meanwhile, went 48-34, the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. They then pulled off an upset victory in Game 1 of the finals in Los Angeles. But the Lakers won the next four for their first title since they played in Minneapolis in 1954.
Wilt Chamberlain led the Lakers with 24 points, 29 rebounds and nine blocks in their clinching 114-100 Game 5 victory at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Bill Sharman, a former star guard with the Boston Celtics, won the title in his first season as the Lakers’ coach. For the Knicks, point guard Walt Frazier averaged 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in five finals games, while forward Jerry Lucas averaged 20.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.2 assists.
1973 – Defeated Los Angeles Lakers In 5 Games
Entering the playoffs, the Boston Celtics were the title favorites, as they had won 68 games during the regular season, eight more wins than any other franchise. But in the Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks upset the Celtics, winning Game 7 at the Boston Garden 94-78, thanks to another clutch performance from star guard Walt Frazier, who finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
In the finals, the Knicks lost Game 1 on the road by three points, but they then won four in a row for their second title in four seasons. For the series, each of the Knicks’ starters averaged between 15.6 and 18.6 points per game
1994 –Lost To Houston Rockets In 7 Games
With Chicago Bulls star guard Michael Jordan playing baseball, the Knicks won 57 regular season games, tied with the Atlanta Hawks for first in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks then defeated the Bulls in seven games in the conference semifinals and the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the conference finals to advance to face the Houston Rockets in their first finals in 21 years.
The Knicks won three of the first five games, but they lost the last two in Houston, including 86-84 in Game 6 and 90-84 in Game 7. Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon, the league’s Most Valuable Player, dominated in the series, including having 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in the final game. And in Game 6, Olajuwon blocked a 3-pointer from Knicks guard John Starks with two seconds remaining that would have clinched New York’s championship.
1999 – Lost To San Antonio Spurs In 5 Games
This was the most unlikely of finals appearances for the Knicks. During the regular season, which was shortened due to the strike, New York went 27-23, barely making the playoffs as the No. 8 seed after wins in their final two games.
In the first round, the Knicks upset the No. 1 seed Miami Heat in the decisive fifth game when Allan Houston made a 10-footer with 0.8 seconds remaining, clinching a 78-77 victory. The Knicks then swept the Atlanta Hawks in the next round and defeated the Indiana Pacers in six games in the Eastern Conference finals even though star center Patrick Ewing missed the final four games with an torn Achilles tendon.
In the finals, the Knicks lost to the Spurs in five games, losing the final two at Madison Square Garden, including 78-77 in Game 5 when guard Latrell Sprewell’s shot at the buzzer fell short. During the finals, Sprewell averaged a team-high 26 points per game, while second-year center Tim Duncan led the Spurs 27.4 points and 14 rebounds per game. Duncan led the Spurs to four more titles (2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014), while the Knicks haven’t returned to the finals until now.
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