1990-91 Season - Part 2: A New Era?
The 1991 NBA Championship Final
The 1991 NBA Championship Final
Road to the Final:
New York Knicks
Season Record (46-36)
Conference Position: 4th
Division Position: 2nd
Playoff Run:
1st Round: Washington Bullets (3-2)
Semifinal: Boston Celtics (4-1)
East Final: Atlanta Hawks (4-0)
Sacramento Kings
Season Record (61-21)
Conference Position: 1st
Division Position: 1st
Playoff Run:
1st Round: Denver Nuggets (3-1)
Semifinal: Milwaukee Bucks (4-3)
West Final: Houston Rockets (4-3)
New York Knicks: Tree Porter, Michael Jordan, Dale Ellis, Dino Radja, Pervis Ellison
Sacramento Kings: John Stockton, Drazan Petrovic, Chuck Person, Otis Thorpe, Patrick Ewing
Game 1:
The opening game in Sacramento begun as perhaps expected, with the Kings focussed on trying to keep Jordan quiet and utilising Stockton and Ewing when on the ball. In the opening six minutes, Ewing had 4 from 5 from the field and 3 of the 4 were assisted by Stockton. Up the other end, the despite Petrovic trying to stay close to MJ, Jordan still had 7 points in the opening half of the first quarter. The focus on Jordan also left starting forward Dino Radja with more space, and he was causing the Kings problems with 3 from 4 early on. The game remained tight as the opening quarter progressed, the Knicks holding between a 1 and 3 point lead continuously. That changed in the last minute however, as the Knicks went on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 9. Ewing then scored a layup with 2 seconds left to leave the gap at 7 after 12 minutes. The 2nd quarter was very cagey, with the Kings not wanting to fall too far behind whilst the Knicks became wasteful. It would take New York over 4 minutes to score from the field, with just 3 points from free throws gained in that time. The Kings couldn't capitalise too much though, and by the midway point it was just 7-7 for the quarter. Knicks' wastefulness continued towards half time, and the Kings now were starting to make the most of it. Ewing and Stockton had returned to the field and were starting to dominate. Ewing got to 17 points by half time, whilst Stockton had 11 and 7 assists as the Kings not only reeled in New York but also breezed past them. By half time, Sacramento led by 4, 44-48. The worse news for the Knicks, Jordan suffered a hard fall late in the quarter, and he limped off with a badly damaged ankle that looked like would keep him out for the rest of the game. Despite this loss, it appeared the 2nd half of the season had gotten New York prepared for this situation. Without Jordan, Ellis and Radja started to step up on the scoring front, as the Knicks pulled back level by the end of the third. Ellison had gotten himself a double double by this point too, contributing 13 points but more importantly 11 rebounds. With 12 minutes left, the game was finely poised at 77-77. As the fourth quarter progressed, the sight of Jordan getting ready to come back on was bad news for the Kings. New York had kept themselves in the contest, as Jordan returned with over 6 minutes to go and the Kings leading by one. With 3 minutes to go, Rajda found an open Ellison under the basket who dunked to level the game up at 96 a piece. Both teams missed 3 point attempts, and then Stockton a field attempt before Ellison was fouled at the baseline to give him a chance to put the Knicks up with 2 and half minutes remaining. He missed the first, but sunk the second to put the Knicks one point up. That lead was flipped as Ewing stepped back and hit a jump shot before Ellison missed from close range to hand the advantage back to Sacramento. An Ewing miss then turned the ball over to New York and a hobbling Jordan, who dribbled through the Sacramento defense and found Porter. Porter, with the shot clock nearing 0, hit a lovely jump shot to put the Knicks back up by one. Stockton's 3 point attempt was collected by Ellis, who found Jordan who in turn sent a long pass down the line to Ellison. Ellison advanced inside the paint and his layup sunk to give the Knicks a 3 point advantage with a minute left on the clock. The Kings were starting to rush things, and their next two attacks were both turned over by Ellison, first with a steal and then a rebound. Porter bought the ball up-court, and he found Jordan who from close range was never going to miss. Jordan's bucket gave the Knicks a five point lead with 24 seconds left on the clock. A timeout from the Kings got them up the pitch, and Stockton was left too open just inside the three point line. His jump shot sailed into the basket, and now the gap looked a little less comfortable for New York. Ewing's intentional foul gave Jordan however the chance to increase that gap back to 5. Unsurprisingly, MJ sunk both, and looked to give the Knicks the win. The game was wrapped up as New York picked up another rebound, which was followed by another intentional foul. 2 buckets from Ellison increased the lead to 7, and that was the last of the scoring. The Knicks had secured a massive win in Sacramento in game 1.
New York Knicks 107-100 Sacramento Kings
Game 2:
The Knicks began game 2 well, still buoyed by the excellent and ground out win in game 1. Jordan was passed fit, although perhaps not 100% on his ankle. The Knicks led early on, by as much as 8 in the early stages although the Kings had reduced that to 4 by the 6 minute mark. Radja was again on form for New York, with Jordan starting the game as provider with 4 early assists. The Kings did actually level with 4 minutes remaining, with both teams level on 20. The Knicks took offence to that however, and played the next 4 minutes out 12-4 in their favour, to lead by 8 at the end of the first. No Kings player had more than 4 points, whilst Jordan had found his scoring prowess to score 6 from 9 and end the first 12 minutes with 14 points. The Knicks were once more less prolific in quarter 2, struggling to find Jordan early on. Jordan then was taken off, needing some treatment on his ankle and only playing five minutes of the 2nd quarter. By half time, the gap in scoring was reduced to 3, with Chuck Person going 5 for 5 from the field for the Kings. Jordan returned after the break, and although only scored two points he did start to provide again for Radja and also Dale Ellis. All 3 had 17+ points by the end of the third quarter, as the Knicks just about held onto their slender advantage. Stockton had 10 assists for the Kings, but had only contributed 2 points. Ewing was his usual dominant self, his 9 rebounds going alongside 16 points but the Kings still trailed by 5 with 12 minutes to go, and could ill afford to lose both home games. New York, knowing how crucial this second win could be, dominated the early stages of the fourth. They eventually would start the quarter with a 17-4 run that looked to put the game out of reach for Sacramento. Jordan had reached a double double with 20 points and 10 assists, as had Terry Porter with 11 points and 12 assists. The Knicks were in no mood to give up this advantage, and as Sacramento weltered under the pressure Knicks continued to extend the lead, seeing out the win comfortably.
New York Knicks 106-85 Sacramento Kings
Game 3:
The Knicks, now with home advantage, again began the brighter of the two teams in game 3. The Kings were now wise to Radja, who was marked out the game early on. This meant that there focus was slightly less on Jordan however, who punished them with 7 early points and 2 assists as the Knicks led by 6 early. By the 12 minute mark, the Kings had started to show signs of life and had turned it around, stopping Jordan from scoring again in the quarter and starting to score themselves. The bench was doing the business for the Kings, with Lasalle Thompson 2 from 2 from the field and 3 from 4 in Free Throws and the Kings turned it around to lead by one at the quarter. With the Knicks now trailing after the first quarter, their traditionally poor 2nd quarters came back to bite them in game 3. The Kings continuously poured through the flagging Knicks defense, racking up 31 points in the 12 minute period. Again Jordan missed the majority of the quarter to rest his ankle which by now was being patched up game by game. At half time, the Knicks trailed Sacramento by 15, by far the biggest half time margin of the series so far. The Knicks looked like making a comeback early in the third, racing into an 11-2 start but it was eventually repelled the Kings, Patrick Ewing coming alive and finishing the quarter with 23 points. (10-14 FG). For New York, Jordan played all 12 minutes and had racked up 10 rebounds whilst Ellis was doing the scoring with 22. With 12 minutes left, the Knicks had reduced the gap to a more doable 7, and had 12 minutes to keep their hopes of a finals sweep alive. Those hopes were dashed pretty quickly, with Sacramento starting 6-0 and then 15-8 to keep the Knicks well out of reach, Stockton with a double double and Ewing reaching 30 points. By the time the buzzer sounded, the Kings had comfortably kept New York at bay and had halved the series deficit.
Sacramento Kings 103-91 New York Knicks
Game 4:
Game 4 was high energy from the off. A frantic 1st Quarter saw 65 points split between the two teams, and only one point separating them. (I'll let you all do the math). The strong Kings roster was on full show as Petrovic, Ewing and Stockton all scored well early on. Stockton also continuing his king of assist role. For the Knicks, it was a one man show. Jordan scored 18 points in the first 12 minutes, as well as 2 steals to keep the Kings out at the other end. In quarter two, Jordan's regular breather kicked in and the Kings took advantage once more. This time though, the Knicks managed to stay in it, trailing only by 3 at half time. With Jordan back out for the start of the third, the game heated up again. By the end of the third, Jordan had already racked up 42 points. 33 more than the next best on the Knicks team. (Terry Porter with 9.) For the Kings, it was a continual team effort. Petrovic, Ewing, Stockton and bench man Mike Mitchell had all got 10+ points, but none of them over 20. The result with twelve minutes remaining was that the Kings led by 2, at 82-80. A 12-12 start to the fourth left the gap at 2 with 5 minutes remaining, and the teams continued to trade scores over the next couple of minutes. An Ed Pinckney rebound over Ewing gave Knicks the chance to counter with 2 minutes to go. Sparrow advanced with the ball, holding it long enough for Jordan to make a move inside the line. He received from Sparrow, took a step back and hit a jump shot over Thompson for his 47th & 48th points of the game and to tie it up with 120 seconds left. After a Kings time out, Stockton brought the ball into the Knicks half but carelessly turned the ball over to Ellison with a loose pass. Ellison fed it to Jordan, who from inside his own half in a blink of an eye was driving at the basket from wide, climbing above the rim and sending the ball crashing back down to reach 50 points and give the Knicks a lead for the first time for a long time in this game. A Stockton to Ewing combination inside the paint quickly levelled the score again before Porter dribbled the ball back down into the Kings half. After being crowded out, the Knicks quickly recycled the ball round to Ellis, whose jump shot just inside the three point line on the shot clock buzzer was all net to restore the New York lead. Stockton would single handedly level as the clock reached a minute to go, bring the ball up the court before eventually stepping back and hitting a wonderfully executed jump shot. The Kings doubled up on Jordan on the next attack, this left Terry Porter free but his effort from the 3 point zone was never troubling the net. The Kings now had a chance to retake the lead, and a frantic attack eventually ended with an offensive rebound from Ewing, who made no mistake from under the basket. The Kings now led 104-102 with 30 seconds to go. The game restarted following a Knicks time out with Porter on the ball at midcourt, Ellis freed himself up to receive in shooting range but his shot agonisingly rimmed out. The agony was short lived, as a gigantic leap from Radja saw the forward rebound the ball which he followed up with a quick dunk to level it up once more. Stockton led what could be the final Kings attack, remaining patient as the clock ticked down. He eventually slid the ball low to Ewing, who secured it inside the paint before reaching over Porter and sending the ball the short distance through the bucket. The Kings now led by 2, with 6 seconds remaining. The Knicks with one final timeout, gave the ball to Jordan. With no way of advancing, Jordan stepped back and sent the ball upwards and forwards from near the half way line. The ball sailed towards the basket, but hit too much rim. The ball bounced up off the backboard and away as the buzzer sounded. It was four straight away wins to start the series.
Sacramento Kings 106-104 New York Knicks
Game 5:
Back in Sacramento, and the Knicks bought the same energy that had gotten them over line in the first two away games of the series. They led early on, despite the best efforts of Patrick Ewing who was trying to emulate the Jordan performance of game 4. New York eventually got themselves 3 points ahead by the end of an entertaining first quarter. Dale Ellis was doing a bit of the heavy lifting for Jordan, matching him on points early on. Ewing had 15 after the first quarter almost single handedly keeping the Kings in the game. The 2nd quarter looked like it was going to be the usual, with Kings going up early and leading the match at one stage. The Knicks found a bit of life though and, with Jordan managing to stay on, they levelled up the quarter and bought they 3 point 1st quarter lead with them to half time. (48-45). The third quarter was equally as close, and even more cagey. Stockton had reached 10+ assists for his double double, but the Kings were still struggling to make any inroads into the slender New York lead. As had been the case in most of the series, both teams were cancelling each other out when it mattered. The teams would draw the third quarter also at 19 a piece, leaving the match in the balance for the final twelve. That balance firmly swung in New York's favour however, as they started the fourth in dominant fashion to establish a double digit lead with a few minutes remaining. Ellis and Jordan both reached 25 points, with 10 assists also for MJ. The Knicks maintained the double digit lead through to the end of the game, leaving them one win from a first title since 1973.
New York Knicks 104-93 Sacramento Kings
Game 6:
Back at the Garden, and the Kings were determined not to go down without a fight. They suffocated Jordan early, forcing New York to try and figure out a different way through the Kings defense. Despite the cover on Jordan, it was still a high scoring first quarter for New York, who scored 31 to Sacramento's 28 in another close start to a game. Ellis was again picking up the slack when required, whilst John Stockton had found a way to score as well as assist making him very difficult for the Knicks to stop. As the second quarter progressed, the common theme of a Sacramento strong second quarter continued. By half way through, they led, and that lead would continue to grow through to half time. By the half way stage, Sacramento led by 8, winning the 2nd quarter 34-23. Jordan had just 9 points at the half, but was able to grow into the game come the third quarter. With Terry Porter having another strong assisting game, Jordan and Ellis started to find their scoring shots once more and the Knicks had incredibly overturned the 8 point deficit before the halfway stage of the 3rd quarter. For the next few minutes, both teams traded leads as the buckets flowed at either end, Stockton reached 25 points to go with his 14 assists and Jordan had a 15 point quarter. The person not having their best game was Patrick Ewing, with just 10 points, 2 assists and a lowly 3 rebounds for a Center of his prowess. By the end of the third, Jordan and Ellis' scoring spree game them a six point advantage and left them twelve minutes from the title. The fourth quarter was a nervous one from the Knicks perspective. Ewing finally came alive with a 3 pointer that halved the gap early on, and from then the Knicks were just about maintaining that three point gap by trading buckets with Sacramento. With five minutes remaining, a wonderful near full court dribble from Sparrow opened up the Kings' defense and he found Ellis under the basket and his layup gave the Knicks their biggest advantage for a while. After trading field goals for a couple of minutes, a three second violation from Ewing gave the Knicks an opportunity to open up a seven point game. Pinckney fed the ball to Jordan, who dribble down to the baseline before spinning back inside. He then stepped one way before turning the other and throwing the ball up towards the basket. To the surprise of no one, the ball sailed through the middle of the bucket and the Knicks led by 7 with 2 and half minutes to go. A couple of crucial rebounds from Ellison kept the New York lead at 7, before a beautiful slam dunk from MJ increased the gap to 9 and the party atmosphere started to ramp up in the Garden. The Knicks remained solid through the final minute, and the buzzer eventually sounded to cause liftoff in New York as the Garden erupted in noise. It was a first Championship since 1973 for New York, a first Championship for Michael Jordan, and a first for a team from the East since 1983.
Sacramento Kings 111-120 New York Knicks
1990-91 NBA Championship Final:
New York Knicks 4-2 Sacramento Kings
Final MVP:
Michael Jordan
1990-91 NBA Championship Final:
New York Knicks 4-2 Sacramento Kings
Final MVP:
Michael Jordan
Up Next: The 1991 Offseason