1989–90 New York Knicks season

The 1989–90 New York Knicks season was the 44th season for the Knicks in the National Basketball Association.^[3] Before the season, owners Gulf+Western reorganized and became Paramount Communications, renaming themselves after the Paramount Pictures film studio.^[4][5] During the off-season, the Knicks hired Stu Jackson as their new head coach; Jackson previously worked as an assistant coach for the Knicks.^[6][7][8]

Under Stu Jackson, the Knicks won 9 of their first 13 games of the regular season, posted a nine-game winning streak in December, and later on held a 32–16 record in early February.^[9][10] At mid-season, the team traded second-year guard Rod Strickland to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for former All-Star guard Maurice Cheeks.^[11][12][13] However, with a 39–22 record as of March 11, 1990, the Knicks struggled and lost 15 of their final 21 games, which included a six-game losing streak in March.^[9] The Knicks finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 45–37 record,^[14] which earned them the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, as they qualified for the NBA playoffs for the third consecutive year.^[3][14]

Patrick Ewing averaged 28.6 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game,^[15] and was named to the All-NBA First Team.^[14] In addition, Charles Oakley averaged 14.6 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, while Gerald Wilkins provided the team with 14.5 points and 4.0 assists per game, and Johnny Newman contributed 12.9 points per game.^[15] Meanwhile, Kiki Vandeweghe provided the Knicks with 11.7 points per game in only 22 games, and Mark Jackson averaged 9.9 points, 7.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game.^[15] Off the bench, three-point specialist Trent Tucker contributed 8.2 points per game, and Kenny Walker averaged 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.^[15]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Miami Arena in Miami, Florida, Ewing was selected for the 1990 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team,^[16][17][18] while Walker participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest for the second consecutive year; Walker won the Slam Dunk Contest the previous year.^[10][19] Ewing finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting,^[20] and also finished tied in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.^[20]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1990 NBA playoffs, the Knicks faced off against the 4th–seeded Boston Celtics,^[14] who were led by the quartet of All-Star forward Larry Bird, All-Star forward Kevin McHale, Reggie Lewis, and All-Star center Robert Parish.^[21] The Knicks lost the first two games to the Celtics on the road, including suffering a 157–128 loss in Game 2 at the Boston Garden.^[22][23][24] However, the Knicks managed to win their next two home games, which included a Game 4 win over the Celtics at Madison Square Garden, 135–108, as Ewing scored 44 points to even the series.^[25][26][27] The Knicks then won Game 5 over the Celtics at the Boston Garden, 121–114, to win in a hard-fought five-game series.^[28][29][30]

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the top–seeded and defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons,^[14][31] who won the Central Division title and were led by the All-Star trio of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, and Defensive Player of the Year Dennis Rodman.^[14][32][33] The Pistons took a 2–0 series lead, but the Knicks managed to win Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, 111–103.^[34] However, the Knicks lost the next two games to the Pistons, including a Game 5 road loss at The Palace of Auburn Hills, 95–84,^[35] thus losing the series in five games.^[33][36][37] The Pistons would advance to the NBA Finals for the third consecutive year,^[38] and defeat the Portland Trail Blazers in five games in the 1990 NBA Finals, winning their second consecutive NBA championship.^[31][39][40]

The Knicks finished fifth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 730,432 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season.^[14][15] Following the season, Newman signed as a free agent with the Charlotte Hornets.^[41][42][43] For the season, the Knicks updated their primary logo, changing the color of the basketball below the team name "Knicks" from brown to orange with blue seams; the logo would remain in use until 1992.^[44]