1988–89 New York Knicks season

The 1988–89 New York Knicks season was the 43rd season for the team in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Charles Oakley from the Chicago Bulls, and selected point guard Rod Strickland out of DePaul University with the 19th overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft. At mid-season, the team traded their future first-round draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for All-Star forward Kiki Vandeweghe.

In the regular season, and with the addition of Oakley and Strickland, the Knicks posted a six-game winning streak in December, won 18 of their first 25 games, and later on held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break. The team posted another six-game winning streak between January and February, and finished in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 52–30 record, earning the second seed in the Eastern Conference; the Knicks won their first Division title since the 1970–71 season, and also posted a successful 35–6 home record at Madison Square Garden during the season.

Patrick Ewing averaged 22.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 3.5 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, while second-year guard Mark Jackson averaged 16.9 points, 8.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game along with 81 three-point field goals, and Johnny Newman provided the team with 16.0 points and 1.4 steals per game, plus 97 three-point field goals. In addition, Gerald Wilkins contributed 14.3 points and 1.4 steals per game, and Oakley provided the Knicks with 12.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Off the bench, Vandeweghe contributed 9.2 points per game in 27 games after the trade, while Strickland provided 8.9 points and 3.9 assists per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, three-point specialist Trent Tucker contributed 8.5 points per game, and led the Knicks with 118 three-point field goals, Sidney Green averaged 6.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and Kenny Walker provided 5.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Ewing and Jackson were both selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; it was Jackson's first and only All-Star appearance. Meanwhile, Walker won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and Tucker was selected to participate in the NBA Three-Point Shootout, but withdrew due to an illness in his family, and was replaced with Jon Sundvold of the Miami Heat. Ewing finished in fourth place in Most Valuable Player voting, finished in sixth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and also finished tied in seventh place in Most Improved Player voting, while head coach Rick Pitino finished in sixth place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1989 NBA playoffs, the Knicks faced off against the 7th–seeded Philadelphia 76ers, a team that featured All-Star forward Charles Barkley, Mike Gminski, and sixth man Ron Anderson. The Knicks won their first two home games over the 76ers at Madison Square Garden. In Game 2, and with the 76ers up by 10 points with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Knicks caught up as Tucker hit a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left; the Knicks defeated the 76ers, 107–106. The Knicks then won Game 3 over the 76ers on the road in overtime, 116–115 at The Spectrum to win the series in a three-game sweep, and advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals.

In the Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 6th–seeded Chicago Bulls, who were led by All-Star guard Michael Jordan, and second-year stars Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. With the series tied at one game each, the Bulls won the next two games to take a 3–1 series lead, defeating the Knicks in Game 4 at Chicago Stadium, 106–93. After winning Game 5 at home, 121–114, the Knicks then lost Game 6 to the Bulls on the road, 113–111, thus losing the series in six games.

The Knicks finished third in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 746,851 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season. Following the season, Pitino resigned after two seasons with the Knicks, and became the head coach at the University of Kentucky, and Green was left unprotected in the 1989 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Orlando Magic expansion team.