In 1999, the New York Knicks made a Cinderella run to the NBA Finals as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. But like Cinderella, the clock ran out on the Knicks in the championship round when they faced a bigger and healthier San Antonio Spurs team.
Former Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward, who was the starting point guard on that '99 Knicks team, talked about the huge disadvantage they faced in the Finals as they played without superstar center Patrick Ewing , who was out with an Achilles injury.
"Well, we also didn't have Larry Johnson for a good portion of that series as well, which hurt our depth, especially against the Spurs who had a bigger lineup," said Ward.
Larry played hurt in the Finals
Perhaps Ward's memory got mixed up because Larry Johnson played all five games of the 1999 NBA Finals. However, LJ wasn't able to play to his typical level and put up his usual numbers because he was dealing with a sprained knee, which he suffered during their hard-fought series against the Pacers.
The Knicks struggled throughout the series without Ewing and playing with a compromised Johnson. But somehow, they pulled off a Game 3 win to cut the Spurs' lead to 2-1. The Spurs put the Knicks on the verge by winning Game 4 at The Garden behind Duncan's 28 points and 18 rebounds. Then, in Game 5, Avery Johnson unexpectedly hit the game-winning long jumper to clinch the title.
"That was something that was disheartening because we just didn't have enough in-depth to be able to overcome what the Spurs brought. And, of course, they had Tim Duncan, who was young at that time and was very dominant, and it was tough for us to stop him. So, of course, we had a plan, but they made some shots as well, big-time shots when they needed them," added Ward.
Ewing says it could have been a different outcome
Like Charlie, Patrick also felt that the series could have been more challenging for the Spurs to win if he was healthy and available to play. Although Ewing was already 36 years old at that time, he still averaged 17.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game that season.
"It definitely would have been a tougher series for them if I was healthy," Pat said on the Big Apple Buckets podcast in 2021. "Marcus and myself would have been a formidable duo to go against both Tim and David, but that was tough because to have to sit there and listen to all the noise that those fans were talking about, it was hard to take."
The championship was the first of five for Duncan and the Spurs. Meanwhile, that was the second and last trip to the NBA Finals for Ewing, whom the Knicks traded during the 2000 offseason. For Ward, that was also the closest he got to the Larry O'Brien trophy.
Related: "Going against David Robinson and Tim Duncan, we needed Patrick" - Latrell Sprewell still regrets losing to Spurs in the 1999 Finals
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