Game #1 @San Antonio 6/16/99

The Cinderella Knicks broke well behind Allan Houston’s 10 points in the opening frame. N.Y. closed the 1st with a 12-4 run to take a 6-point lead. The not so bright spot for N.Y. was Larry Johnson’s 2 fouls picked up in less than 2 minutes of the game. The bottom would fall out in the 2nd as N.Y. scored a Finals low 10 points in the period. The Knicks did not make a field goal in the first 5 minutes of the period. The Spurs couldn’t capitalize as they still trailed 35-31 more than halfway through the quarter. S.A. closed the half on a 14-2 run to seize control of the game for good. Tim Duncan had 4 points, 2 rebounds and a blocked shot in the final minute of the half. The Spurs pushed the lead to 12 midway through the 3rd quarter. N.Y. would close the gap to 74-68 with 8:21 to play, but poor shooting would do them in. S.A. went on an 8-0 run to run the lead to 82-68 as N.Y. made only 5 of 22 shots in the final period. The Spurs’ Jaren Jackson nailed 3 of 4 3-point attempts in the 4th to help put N.Y. away.

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Game #2 @San Antonio 6/18/99

The Knicks offensive woes in the face of the Spurs’ defense continued as they failed to score 20 points in any quarter of the game. The Spurs won a league record 12th straight playoff game behind their Twin Towers. The Knicks led only once in the game; they had a brief lead in the 1st period. They still hung in the game behind their own defense and surprisingly effective board work. The Spurs were leading by only 52-49 with 2:41 left in the 3rd period when N.Y. failed to convert on 3 consecutive possessions. The Knicks missed 2 jumpers and lost the ball on a shot-clock violation. Sean Elliott then drove by Allan Houston for a hoop and drew a foul with 2.5 seconds left in the 3rd. Elliott missed the foul shot, but Tim Duncan slipped inside of Marcus Camby and put the ball back in for a four-point play with 1.9 seconds left. N.Y. closed to within 6 with 8:22 left, but as in Game 1, S.A. went on a run to put the game away. This time it was a 12-1 run that left the Spurs with a 17-point lead. N.Y. made 4 turnovers during the run and could not penetrate the defense of Duncan and David Robinson.

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Game #3 @New York 6/21/99

Latrell Sprewell continued his strong play with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in the 1st frame. N.Y. scored 8 straight points to build a 20-10 lead and led by as many as 14 points in the opening period. Unlike down the stretch in Game 2, N.Y. protected the ball as they did not commit a turnover in the 1st period. The Spurs tried to rally behind Tim Duncan’s 10 points in the 2nd quarter. Allan Houston kept N.Y. in front by scoring 12 of the Knicks’ 17 2nd period points. David Robinson and Marcus Camby were each assessed technical fouls during a 3rd period flare up. After the Spurs had tied the game at 58, Houston hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 3:06 left in the period. The Spurs opened the final period with 2 straight turnovers that N.Y. converted into a 69-62 lead. Sprewell led the way with 10 points on 4-5 shooting in the period. The Knicks shackled Duncan in the final frame as he did not score and committed 3 turnovers. 

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Game #4 @New York 6/23/99

N.Y. again started strong; this time behind Charlie Ward. The Knick point guard had 10 points (on 4-4 shooting), 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist as N.Y. put up 29 points in the 1st period. The Knicks took the lead as they outscored S.A. 8-2 in final 3 minutes of the period. N.Y., who struggled with their shooting all series, made a sizzling 60% of its shots in this quarter. S.A. took the lead late in the 2nd period behind Tim Duncan’s play. Duncan scored 8 points in the final 4 minutes of the 1st half. The Spurs started the 2nd half with 9 straight points to take a 59-46 lead. N.Y. would rally as Latrell Sprewell scored 10 points in the last 7 minutes of the quarter. S.A. maintained the lead behind Duncan & David Robinson who would outrebound the entire Knick team all by themselves, 35-34. The two would also combined for 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in the game’s final frame. Duncan would get 7 points and 8 of those rebounds. The Knicks did score 7 straight points to close within 81-80. Then Robinson scored on a drive, Duncan on a jumper and Mario Elie on a fastbreak layup after Robinson blocked a Larry Johnson layup. The Spurs pushed the lead back to 8 with 4 minutes remaining and the Knicks had no more rallies in them.

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Game #5 @New York 6/25/99

N.Y. again, for the 4th time in 5 games, led after the opening period. Poor shooting, though, would again let the lead disappear. The Spurs would take a small lead, but the Knicks would not go away. Then, in one of the more amazing stretches of “Can You Top This”, Tim Duncan and Latrell Sprewell would take over the game. It started with 2:07 left in the 3rd and lasted into the 4th period. In that stretch, Duncan and Sprewell scored 28 of the 29 points put up on the scoreboard. Sprewell scored all 14 Knick points and Duncan scored 14 of the 15 Spur points during that stretch. N.Y. retook the lead late in the game and held a 1-point lead as the clock went under the 1-minute mark. With 47 seconds remaining, Avery Johnson buried an 18-foot baseline jumper to make it 78-77. Trailing by 1, the Knicks could not score and the Spurs regained possession. Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy decided not to order the intentional foul, but to play tight defense instead. It worked as S.A. could not get a shot off before the shot clock expired. N.Y. got the ball back but Sprewell could not get a shot off underneath as the Twin Towers converged on him. Time ran out on the Cinderella Knicks as they did not score a point in the final 3:12 of the game.

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