1994–95 New York Knicks season

The 1994–95 New York Knicks season was the 49th season for the team in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[3] The Knicks entered the season as runner-ups of the 1994 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games.^[4]

During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Doug Christie from the Los Angeles Lakers.^[5][6][7] In the 1994 NBA draft, the team selected small forward Monty Williams out of Notre Dame University with the 24th overall pick, and selected point guard Charlie Ward out of Florida State University with the 26th overall pick.^[8][9][10] However, Christie only played twelve games, because of an ankle injury,^[11][12][13] and Ward only played ten games due to a wrist injury.^[11][14] In December, the team released Doc Rivers to free agency; Rivers later signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs.^[15][16][17]

In the regular season, the Knicks played around .500 in winning percentage with a 12–12 record, after a five-game losing streak in December.^[18] However, the team posted an eight-game winning streak between December and January afterwards, won 17 of their next 19 games, and later on held a 30–16 record at the All-Star break.^[18][19] The Knicks finished in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 55–27 record,^[18] two games behind the top-seeded Orlando Magic, who won the Division title. By earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference,^[20] the Knicks qualified for the NBA playoffs for the eighth consecutive year.^[3]

Patrick Ewing averaged 23.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, while John Starks averaged 15.3 points and 5.1 assists per game,^[11] and led the league with 217 three-point field goals, becoming the first player ever to reach up to 200 three-pointers in a single season.^[21] In addition, Charles D. Smith provided the team with 12.7 points and 1.3 blocks per game, while Derek Harper contributed 11.5 points and 5.7 assists per game, along with 106 three-point field goals. Sixth man Anthony Mason averaged 9.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game off the bench,^[11] and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year.^[22][23][24] Meanwhile, Charles Oakley averaged 10.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, but only played 50 games this season due to a toe injury,^{[11][25][26][27]} while off the bench, three-point specialist Hubert Davis contributed 10.0 points per game and 131 three-point field goals, and Greg Anthony provided the Knicks with 6.1 points and 2.6 assists per game.^[11]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, Ewing was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team,^[28][29][30] and also finished in fourth place in Most Valuable Player voting.^[31][32]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1995 NBA playoffs, the Knicks faced off against the 6th–seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that featured Mark Price, All-Star forward Tyrone Hill, and second-year forward Chris Mills.^[20][33] Despite losing Game 2 at home to the Cavaliers, 90–84 at Madison Square Garden,^[34][35][36] the Knicks won the next two games over the Cavaliers on the road, including a Game 4 win at the Gund Arena, 93–80 to win the series in four games, and advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.^[37][38][39]

In the Semi-finals, and for the third consecutive year,^[40] the Knicks faced off against the 2nd–seeded and Central Division champion Indiana Pacers,^[20] who were led by All-Star guard Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, and former Knicks guard Mark Jackson.^[41][42] Despite the Pacers being the second seed in the East, and winning the Central Division title, the Knicks had home-court advantage in this series, since they had a better regular-season record than the Pacers.^[20][43][44] The Pacers defeated the Knicks in Game 1 at Madison Square Garden, 107–105, as Miller scored eight points in the final 18.7 seconds to bring the Pacers back from a six-point deficit.^[45][46][47] The Pacers gained a 3–1 series edge,^[48][49][50] before the Knicks won two straight games to force a seventh game back home in New York City. With the Knicks down by two points in the final seconds, Ewing had a chance to send the game into overtime, but missed his driving layup attempt, as the Pacers defeated the Knicks, 97–95, thus winning in a hard-fought seven-game series to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.^[51][52][53]

The Knicks finished sixth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 810,283 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season.^[11][20] Following the season, Pat Riley resigned as head coach after four seasons with the Knicks, and became the President of basketball operations and head coach of the Miami Heat.^[54][55][56] Meanwhile, Anthony was left unprotected in the 1995 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies expansion team,^[57][58][59] and Anthony Bonner was released to free agency, and left to play overseas in Italy.^[60][61]