Knicks Finally Win Justice for 1999 NBA Finals Matchup

Matchups between NBA representatives from both the Eastern and Western Conferences often force fans to go into their historical vaults in adding extra flavor to the showdown. The NBA Finals have created rivalries between cross-country opponents more reliably than anything else the league has to offer, but the NBA Cup, too, can help in that regard.

The New York Knicks got what they came for in their brief Las Vegas foray, thwarting the San Antonio Spurs' bid for the NBA Cup with a 124-113 win to reign supreme at the head of the in-season tournament. And given the lack of recent history shared between the two organizations, this made for the first notable brush that the franchises have made with one another this century.

They aren't completely lacking in shared history, though; these two teams shared the NBA Finals stage in the odd 1999 series, and over 26 years after the Knicks were forced to stomach yet another foiled attempt at a championship ring, they finally got some semblance of justice in hoisting the Cup.

Remembering an All-Time Oddity

That finals series is remembered for two things; it essentially kickstarted the Spurs' two decades and change of consistent 50-win seasons, fostering one of the great dynasties in the history of the league in the form of five championships, but that ring was remembered with an asterisk.

A lockout-shortened season was credited with Tim Duncan's winning a Finals MVP in just his second season, as well as the wild run that the Knicks embarked upon in winning three playoff straight rounds as an 8-seed. A cathartic victory over the Miami Heat led by hated friend-turned-rival Pat Riley, a sweep of the Atlanta Hawks and Larry Johnson's iconic four-point play to help handle the Indiana Pacers fueled one of the great upstarts of all time, even if they went out relatively quietly in five Finals games.

Former New York Knicks Forward Larry Johnson — Apr 19, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Former NBA forward Larry Johnson watches Game One of the First Round of the NBA Playoffs between the Detroit Pistons and against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

That 78-77 Game 5 loss in San Antonio was, to date, the most recent Finals game that the Knicks have appeared in. That's part of what made their conference finals push last spring so entertaining; one of the country's most prolific basketball cities finally had a team capable of an eventfully-deep playoff run.

Their inability to make it back to the dance has contributed mightily to the lack of shared history between the turn-of-the-century powers; the Spurs only ascended from that resounding Knicks victory, while New York cratered under years of poor management. Now that they once again stand at or near the forefront of the league's contenders in the 2020s, though, the former Cup participants have a chance to re-ignite an old rivalry in continuing to mount their respective Finals returns.

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