1988–89 New York Knicks season

The 1988–89 NBA season was the 43rd season for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Charles Oakley from the Chicago Bulls, and selected point guard Rod Strickland out of DePaul University with the 19th overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft. At mid-season, the team traded their future first-round draft pick to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for All-Star forward Kiki Vandeweghe.

In the regular season, the Knicks won 18 of their first 25 games, held a 32–16 record at the All-Star break, finished in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 52–30 record, and earned the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference; the team won their first Division title since 1970–71, and also posted a successful 35–6 home record at Madison Square Garden during the season.

Patrick Ewing averaged 22.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 3.5 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, while second-year guard Mark Jackson averaged 16.9 points, 8.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game along with 81 three-point field goals, and Johnny Newman provided the team with 16.0 points and 1.4 steals per game, plus 97 three-point field goals. In addition, Gerald Wilkins contributed 14.3 points and 1.4 steals per game, and Oakley provided the Knicks with 12.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Off the bench, Strickland provided 8.9 points and 3.9 assists per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, while three-point specialist Trent Tucker contributed 8.5 points per game, and led the Knicks with 118 three-point field goals, and Sidney Green averaged 6.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend in Houston, Texas, Ewing and Jackson were both selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game, which was Jackson's first and only All-Star appearance, and reserve forward Kenny Walker won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Ewing also finished in fourth place in Most Valuable Player voting, finished in sixth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and finished tied in seventh place in Most Improved Player voting, while head coach Rick Pitino finished in sixth place in Coach of the Year voting.

In the 1989 NBA playoffs, the Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers, 3–0 in the Eastern Conference First Round, to advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, where the team lost to Michael Jordan, and the 6th-seeded Chicago Bulls in six games.

The Knicks finished third in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 746,851 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season. Following the season, Pitino resigned after two seasons with the Knicks, and became the head coach at the University of Kentucky, and Green was left unprotected in the 1989 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Orlando Magic expansion team.