1990–91 New York Knicks season

The 1990–91 New York Knicks season was the 45th season for the Knicks in the National Basketball Association.^[3] During the off-season, the Knicks signed free agent John Starks, who played in the Continental Basketball Association the previous season.^[4][5][6] The team changed their on-court leadership early in the season, as head coach Stu Jackson was fired, and replaced with John MacLeod after 15 games.^[7][8][9]

1990–91 New York Knicks season
Head coach	Stu Jackson (fired) (7–8) John MacLeod (32–35)
General manager	Al Bianchi Dave Checketts Ernie Grunfeld
Owners	Paramount Communications, Inc.
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Results
Record	39–43 (.476)
Place	Division: 3rd (Atlantic) Conference: 8th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	First round (lost to Bulls 0–3)
Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	MSG Network (Marv Albert, John Andariese)[1]
Radio	WFAN (Jim Karvellas, Walt Frazier)[2]
< 1989–90 1991–92 >

After a 6–3 start to the regular season, the Knicks lost eight of their next nine games, and held a 20–27 record at the All-Star break.^[10][11] However, the team recovered to a 34–33 record near the end of the season, but then went 5–10 in their last 15 games.^[10] The Knicks finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 39–43 record, and earned the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference for the NBA playoffs.^[12]

Patrick Ewing averaged 26.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game, leading the Knicks in both scoring and blocks;^[13] he was named to the All-NBA Second Team,^[12] and was selected for the 1991 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[14][15][16] In addition, Kiki Vandeweghe finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game, while Gerald Wilkins provided them with 13.8 points per game, and Charles Oakley averaged 11.2 points and led the Knicks with 12.1 rebounds per game.^[13] Meanwhile, Maurice Cheeks replaced Mark Jackson as the Knicks' starting point guard this season;^[17] Cheeks contributed 7.8 points, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game, while Jackson contributed 8.8 points and 6.3 assists per game off the bench.^[13] Also off the bench, Starks provided the Knicks with 7.6 points and 3.3 assists per game, three-point specialist Trent Tucker contributed 7.1 points per game, and Kenny Walker averaged 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.^[13]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1991 NBA playoffs, the Knicks were swept in three straight games by Michael Jordan and the eventual NBA champion Chicago Bulls;^[18][19][20] the Knicks had suffered a 41-point margin in a 126–85 Game 1 road loss to the Bulls at the Chicago Stadium.^[21][22][10] The Bulls would reach the 1991 NBA Finals and defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, winning their first-ever NBA championship.^[23][24][25]

The Knicks finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 654,962 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season.^[12][13] Following the season, Cheeks was traded to the Atlanta Hawks,^[26][27][28] and Tucker was dealt to the Phoenix Suns.^[29][30]

For the season, the Knicks slightly redesigned their uniforms, replacing their alternate "NY" logo on the left leg of their shorts with their current primary logo. These uniforms remained in use until 1992.^[31][32]

NBA draft

Main article: 1990 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	17	Jerrod Mustaf	PF/C	United States	Maryland

Roster

1990–91 New York Knicks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Player Height Weight DOB From G 1 Maurice Cheeks 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1956–09–08 West Texas A&M C 33 Patrick Ewing 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1962–08–05 Georgetown G 14 Greg Grant 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 140 lb (64 kg) 1966–08–29 TCNJ G 13 Mark Jackson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1965–04–01 St. John's F 32 Jerrod Mustaf 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 238 lb (108 kg) 1969–10–28 Maryland F 34 Charles Oakley 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1963–12–18 Virginia Union G 23 Brian Quinnett 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1966–05–30 Washington State G 3 John Starks 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1965–08–10 Oklahoma State G 6 Trent Tucker 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1959–12–20 Minnesota F 55 Kiki Vandeweghe 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1958–08–01 UCLA F 7 Kenny Walker 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1964–08–18 Kentucky C 45 Eddie Lee Wilkins 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1962–05–07 Gardner–Webb G 21 Gerald Wilkins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1963–09–11 Chattanooga

Head coach Stu Jackson (fired) John MacLeod Assistant(s) Ernie Grunfeld Bob Salmi Paul Silas Jeff Van Gundy Legend (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Updated: January 23, 1991

Regular season

Season standings

Atlantic Division v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	—	35–6	21–20	20-6
x-Philadelphia 76ers	44	38	.537	12	29-12	15-26	14-12
x-New York Knicks	39	43	.476	17	21-20	18-23	17–9
Washington Bullets	30	52	.366	26	21-20	9-32	10-16
New Jersey Nets	26	56	.317	30	20-21	6–35	8-18
Miami Heat	24	58	.293	32	18-23	6-35	9-17

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

#	Eastern Conference v t e
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	c-Chicago Bulls	61	21	.744	–
2	y-Boston Celtics	56	26	.683	5
3	x-Detroit Pistons	50	32	.610	11
4	x-Milwaukee Bucks	48	34	.585	13
5	x-Philadelphia 76ers	44	38	.537	17
6	x-Atlanta Hawks	43	39	.524	18
7	x-Indiana Pacers	41	41	.500	20
8	x-New York Knicks	39	43	.476	22
9	Cleveland Cavaliers	33	49	.402	28
10	Washington Bullets	30	52	.366	31
11	New Jersey Nets	26	56	.317	35
12	Charlotte Hornets	26	56	.317	35
13	Miami Heat	24	58	.293	37

z – clinched division title

y – clinched division title

x – clinched playoff spot

Game log

Playoffs

1991 playoff game log
First Round: 0–3 (home: 0–1; road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 April 25 @ Chicago L 85–126 Kiki VanDeWeghe (19) Charles Oakley (11) Maurice Cheeks (7) Chicago Stadium 18,676 0–1 2 April 28 @ Chicago L 79–89 Patrick Ewing (24) Ewing, Oakley (10) Trent Tucker (3) Chicago Stadium 18,676 0–2 3 April 30 Chicago L 94–103 Ewing, VanDeWeghe (20) Patrick Ewing (14) Maurice Cheeks (7) Madison Square Garden 18,021 0–3
1991 schedule

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Maurice Cheeks	76	64	28.3	.499	.250	.814	2.3	5.7	1.7	.1	7.8
Patrick Ewing	81	81	38.3	.514	.000	.745	11.2	3.0	1.0	3.2	26.6
Greg Grant	22	0	4.9	.370	.333	.833	.5	.9	.4	.0	1.2
Stuart Gray	8	0	4.6	.333		1.000	1.3	.0	.0	.1	1.4
Mark Jackson	72	21	22.2	.492	.255	.731	2.7	6.3	.8	.1	8.8
Jerrod Mustaf	62	5	13.3	.465	.000	.644	2.7	.6	.2	.2	4.3
Charles Oakley	76	74	36.0	.516	.000	.784	12.1	2.7	.8	.2	11.2
Brian Quinnett	68	5	14.9	.459	.349	.722	2.1	.8	.3	.2	4.7
John Starks	61	10	19.2	.439	.290	.752	2.1	3.3	1.0	.3	7.6
Trent Tucker	65	13	18.4	.440	.418	.630	1.6	1.7	.7	.1	7.1
Kiki VanDeWeghe	75	72	32.3	.494	.362	.899	2.4	1.5	.6	.1	16.3
Kenny Walker	54	8	14.3	.435	.000	.780	2.9	.2	.3	.6	4.3
Eddie Lee Wilkins	68	1	9.8	.447	.000	.567	2.6	.2	.3	.1	4.1
Gerald Wilkins	68	56	31.8	.473	.209	.820	3.0	4.0	1.2	.3	13.8

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Maurice Cheeks	3	3	33.7	.609	.333	.500	3.0	5.3	1.0	.3	10.0
Patrick Ewing	3	3	36.7	.400		.778	10.0	2.0	.3	1.7	16.7
Mark Jackson	3	0	12.0	.333			.0	2.7	.3	.3	.7
Jerrod Mustaf	3	0	7.3	.800		.800	1.7	.0	.0	.3	4.0
Charles Oakley	3	3	33.3	.476		.500	10.3	1.0	.7	.3	7.7
Brian Quinnett	3	0	12.0	.500	.333		.3	1.0	.3	.0	3.0
John Starks	3	0	9.3	.400		1.000	1.0	2.0	.0	.0	2.0
Trent Tucker	3	2	22.0	.360	.400	1.000	4.0	3.0	.3	.0	8.0
Kiki VanDeWeghe	3	3	33.0	.406	.600	.880	2.7	1.3	.3	.0	17.0
Kenny Walker	3	0	10.3	.500		1.000	2.3	.7	.3	.3	3.3
Eddie Lee Wilkins	1	0	13.0	.667		.500	2.0	.0	.0	.0	9.0
Gerald Wilkins	3	1	26.0	.368	.286	1.000	2.7	1.7	1.7	.3	10.7

Source:^[13]

Awards and records

• The Knicks won the 1990 McDonald's Open by winning games against Italy's Scavolini Pesaro and Yugoslavia's POP 84.^[33]

Season

• Patrick Ewing was named to the All-NBA Second Team^[34]

Transactions