1999 NBA Finals

1999 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich 4 New York Knicks Jeff Van Gundy 1
Dates	June 16–25
MVP	Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs)
Television	NBC (U.S.)
Announcers	Bob Costas and Doug Collins
Radio network	ESPN
Announcers	Brent Musburger and Jack Ramsay
Referees
Game 1: Bennett Salvatore, Hugh Evans, Steve Javie Game 2: Dan Crawford, Joe Crawford, Jess Kersey Game 3: Dick Bavetta, Hue Hollins, Ronnie Nunn Game 4: Hugh Evans, Ron Garretson, Mike Mathis Game 5: Joe Crawford, Steve Javie, Bennett Salvatore
Hall of Famers	Spurs: David Robinson (2009) Knicks: Patrick Ewing (2008) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015)
Eastern Finals	Knicks defeat Pacers, 4–2
Western Finals	Spurs defeat Trail Blazers, 4–0

The 1999 NBA Finals was the championship round of the shortened 1998–99 NBA season or the 1999 season. The San Antonio Spurs of the Western Conference took on the New York Knicks of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Spurs holding home court advantage. The series was played under a best-of-seven format, with the first team to collect four game victories winning the series.

Will Lyman narrated the season-ending documentary Go Spurs Go! for NBA Entertainment.

Background

The 1999 NBA season was shortened due to a labor dispute that led to a lockout, canceling the first 3 months of the season, literally making this the 1999 NBA Season and Finals (as all games were played in the year 1999). The NBA schedule consisted of 50 regular season games (61% of regular 82 games), and a normal playoff schedule; many teams never played each other.

San Antonio Spurs

This was the second year of the "Twin Towers" pairing of David Robinson and second year star forward Tim Duncan, who switched from his natural center position in college to power forward to play alongside Robinson in San Antonio; the two had been teammates since the Spurs drafted Duncan with the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft- a pick they earned through the draft lottery, due to a 62-loss 1996–97 season that saw Robinson suffer an injury very early in the season and the team collapse from there. As a result of the shaky start, veteran coach Bob Hill was fired and replaced by then-general manager Gregg Popovich. In the first season of the Duncan/Robinson tandem the Spurs won 56 games but were eliminated by the Utah Jazz in the second round of the playoffs. The following year, led by Robinson, Duncan, Sean Elliott, and Avery Johnson, the Spurs won 37 of their 50 games and qualified as the top seed in the Western Conference, as well as the league's best record.

After defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first playoff series, San Antonio recorded back-to-back sweeps in the second round and conference finals, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. The victory over Portland gave the Spurs their first ever trip to the NBA Finals.

New York Knicks

The Knicks had a harder time getting to the playoffs than the Spurs did. Toward the end of the season, with the team teetering on the brink of making the playoffs, rumors had begun to spread in the New York media that head coach Jeff Van Gundy would lose his job before the end of the season if the team did not make the playoffs. Instead, New York fired general manager Ernie Grunfeld and allowed Van Gundy to lead the team to the playoffs, with the team barely qualifying as the #8 seed. They would face the Miami Heat, the top seed, in the first round.

Led by an injured Patrick Ewing and relying on contributions from Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell, and Allan Houston, as well as a newly acquired Marcus Camby, the Knicks were able to keep pace with the Heat and after Houston hit a shot with 0.8 seconds remaining in Game 5 of that series, the Knicks were victorious and became the second team in NBA history after the Denver Nuggets to win a playoff series as the #8 seed. The Nuggets were led by Dikembe Mutombo in that series, a center who now was playing for the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks' next opponent. Although the center from Zaire guaranteed a victory, the Knicks won in a four-game sweep to set up a matchup with the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Ewing could not continue due to an injury and was lost for the series after the first two games. In the third game, with 11.9 seconds left and the Knicks trailing 91–88, Johnson looked to attempt a three-point shot but was unable to shake the defender. He continued moving, however, and got off the shot while being fouled. He made the basket and converted the subsequent free-throw for a game-winning four-point play and gave his team a 2–1 lead in the series. In Game 6, however, Johnson suffered a knee injury and although the Knicks rallied around him to get the victory and the conference championship, it would prove costly as his playing time was limited in the Finals.

Result

The Spurs won the series 4 games to 1. Spurs forward Tim Duncan was named the Most Valuable Player of the finals. On June 25 with 47 seconds to go in Game 5, Avery Johnson hit the game-winner. Johnson's shot was followed by a Latrell Sprewell miss that would have sent the series back to San Antonio.

This was the first of San Antonio's five NBA Championships, but they would not return to the Finals until 2003. New York has yet to return to the Finals. No #8 seed has advanced to the NBA Finals or as far as the Conference Finals since, but there have been other instances of #8 seeds defeating #1 seeds in the playoffs: in 2007 the Golden State Warriors defeated the Dallas Mavericks; in 2011 the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Spurs; and in 2012 the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Chicago Bulls.

The Spurs would also be the first champions since 1986 to not go on to repeat as champions. From 1987 to 1998 every champion either repeated or three-peated.

As of the 2014 NBA Finals, June 25 is the latest in the calendar that any NBA Finals game has ever been played. Had a Game 7 been required it would have been played on Tuesday, June 29.

Road to the Finals

San Antonio Spurs (Western Conference Champion)		New York Knicks (Eastern Conference Champion)
# Western Conference Team W L PCT GB 1 z-San Antonio Spurs 37 13 .740 – 2 y-Portland Trail Blazers 35 15 .700 2 3 x-Utah Jazz 37 13 .740 – 4 x-Los Angeles Lakers 31 19 .620 6 5 x-Houston Rockets 31 19 .620 6 6 x-Sacramento Kings 27 23 .540 10 7 x-Phoenix Suns 27 23 .540 10 8 x-Minnesota Timberwolves 25 25 .500 12 9 Seattle SuperSonics 25 25 .500 12 10 Golden State Warriors 21 29 .420 16 11 Dallas Mavericks 19 31 .380 18 12 Denver Nuggets 14 36 .280 23 13 Los Angeles Clippers 9 41 .180 28 14 Vancouver Grizzlies 8 42 .160 29 1st seed in the West, best league record	Regular season		# Eastern Conference Team W L PCT GB 1 c-Miami Heat 33 17 .660 – 2 y-Indiana Pacers 33 17 .660 – 3 x-Orlando Magic 33 17 .660 – 4 x-Atlanta Hawks 31 19 .620 2 5 x-Detroit Pistons 29 21 .580 4 6 x-Philadelphia 76ers 28 22 .560 5 7 x-Milwaukee Bucks 28 22 .560 5 8 x-New York Knicks 27 23 .540 6 9 Charlotte Hornets 26 24 .520 7 10 Toronto Raptors 23 27 .460 10 11 Cleveland Cavaliers 22 28 .440 11 12 Boston Celtics 19 31 .380 14 13 Washington Wizards 18 32 .360 15 14 New Jersey Nets 16 34 .320 17 15 Chicago Bulls 13 37 .260 20 8th seed in the East, 14th best league record
Defeated the (8) Minnesota Timberwolves, 3–1	First round		Defeated the (1) Miami Heat, 3–2
Defeated the (4) Los Angeles Lakers, 4–0	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (4) Atlanta Hawks, 4–0
Defeated the (2) Portland Trail Blazers, 4–0	Conference Finals		Defeated the (2) Indiana Pacers, 4–2

Regular season series

The Knicks and Spurs did not meet in the regular season.

Starting lineups

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame‡ 

San Antonio	Position	New York
Avery Johnson	PG	Charlie Ward
Mario Elie	SG	Allan Houston
Sean Elliott	SF	Latrell Sprewell
Tim Duncan	PF	Larry Johnson
David Robinson‡	C	Patrick Ewing‡

1999 NBA Finals rosters

San Antonio Spurs

1999 San Antonio Spurs Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From PG 33 Daniels, Antonio 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Bowling Green PF 21 Duncan, Tim 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Wake Forest SG 17 Elie, Mario 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) American International SF 32 Elliott, Sean 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Arizona SG 10 Gaze, Andrew 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Seton Hall SG 2 Jackson, Jaren 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Georgetown PG 6 Johnson, Avery 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Southern PG 4 Kerr, Steve 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Arizona SF 25 Kersey, Jerome 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Longwood PF 54 King, Gerard 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Nicholls State C 41 Perdue, Will 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Vanderbilt C 50 Robinson, David 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Navy PF 31 Rose, Malik 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Drexel SG 11 Williams, Brandon 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Davidson	Head coach Gregg Popovich Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

New York Knicks

1999 New York Knicks Finals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From PG 9 Brunson, Rick 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Temple C 23 Camby, Marcus 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Massachusetts PG 1 Childs, Chris 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Boise State PF 4 Davis, Ben 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Arizona C 14 Dudley, Chris 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Yale C 33 Ewing, Patrick 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Georgetown SG 20 Houston, Allan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Tennessee PF 2 Johnson, Larry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 250 lb (113 kg) UNLV SF 8 Sprewell, Latrell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Alabama PF 40 Thomas, Kurt 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Texas Christian PG 21 Ward, Charlie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Florida State C 32 Williams, Herb 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 242 lb (110 kg) Ohio State SG 25 Wingate, David 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Georgetown	Head coach Jeff Van Gundy Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Series summary

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	Wednesday, June 16	San Antonio Spurs	89–77 (1–0)	New York Knicks
Game 2	Friday, June 18	San Antonio Spurs	80–67 (2–0)	New York Knicks
Game 3	Monday, June 21	New York Knicks	89–81 (1–2)	San Antonio Spurs
Game 4	Wednesday, June 23	New York Knicks	89–96 (1–3)	San Antonio Spurs
Game 5	Friday, June 25	New York Knicks	77–78 (1–4)	San Antonio Spurs

The Finals were played using a 2–3–2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage. The NBA, after experimenting in the early years, restored this original format for the Finals between 1985–2013. Since the 2013-2014 season, the Finals returned to a 2–2–1–1–1 site format.

Quotes

They want Duncan. Gotten down on the entry pass. Double teamed. Elliot on top. Elliot bluffs, drives, kicks. Avery Johnson for the lead...YES! Avery Johnson from the left baseline knocks it down and the Spurs lead it 78–77. 47 seconds to go.

— ESPN Radio's Brent Musburger calling Avery Johnson's series-winning shot in Game 5.

Sean Elliot... Avery Johnson... BIG hoop for Avery Johnson! The Spurs by 1. Avery Johnson, undrafted, bounced around the NBA, cut twice by the Spurs before sticking the third time, a 5'3" high school senior, the last man on his high school team – grew eight inches in the next couple of years to get to 5'11".

— NBC's Bob Costas calling the same play.

Ward... to the paint, Sprewell! He's got a look! Drives in front, (time expires) SHOOTS! NO! The San Antonio Spurs have won their first NBA championship.

— NBC's Bob Costas calling the end of Game 5 and the series.

Aftermath

The Spurs would become the first defending champion since the 1985–86 Celtics to not win consecutive championships. They won 53 games that season, but were severely handicapped by Sean Elliott's early season kidney transplant, and Tim Duncan's late-season knee injury. The Spurs were eliminated in the first round of the 2000 NBA Playoffs by the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs would also win four more NBA titles in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014 and appear in the 2013 NBA Finals, with Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich the only members of the team to appear in all of the Spurs' Finals appearances.

To date, the series would be the Knicks' last NBA Finals appearance. The next season, the Knicks won 50 games but fell to the Indiana Pacers in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. After that season, the Patrick Ewing era came to an end when Ewing was traded to the SuperSonics. In the post-Ewing era, the Knicks have managed five playoff appearances (2001, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013), but only one playoff series win.

See also

• 1999 NBA Playoffs

External links

• NBA History
• Official Website on NBA.com at the Wayback Machine (archived October 12, 1999)