1997–98 New York Knicks season
The 1997–98 New York Knicks season was the 52nd season for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Chris Mills from the Boston Celtics, and Chris Dudley from the Portland Trail Blazers. At midseason, the team traded Herb Williams to the Philadelphia 76ers for Terry Cummings. However, Williams never played for the 76ers, and was re-signed by the Knicks for the remainder of the season. In the regular season, the Knicks finished with a 43–39 record, which placed them in a tie for second  place in the Atlantic Division with the New Jersey Nets. Despite their lowest winning percentage since the 1990–91 season, the team qualified for the NBA Playoffs as the #7 seed. They also hosted the 1998 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks had the fourth-best team defensive rating in the NBA. This season saw All-Star center Patrick Ewing break his wrist trying to catch an alley-oop during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 20. The injury kept Ewing out for the rest of the regular season, and the entire Eastern Conference first  round series against the Miami Heat. However, he did return for Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Ewing averaged 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in 26 games. Without their star center for most of the season, Allan Houston finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per game, while Larry Johnson averaged 15.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. In addition, John Starks provided scoring off the bench, averaging 12.9 points per game, and finished in fourth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, while Charles Oakley  provided the team with 9.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Mills contributed 9.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game off the bench. The team used Charlie Ward as its starting point guard, with Chris Childs coming off the bench. Ward contributed 7.8 points, 5.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game. During the All-Star Weekend, Houston participated in the 2Ball competition, which replaced the Slam Dunk Contest this season, and Ward participated in the Three-Point Contest. The 1998 NBA Playoffs matched the Knicks against the #2 seed  Heat, who had eliminated the Knicks in the 1997 playoffs in a series that featured a brawl during Game 5. The altercation led to the suspension of six players, including five Knicks. In the 1998 series, another brawl occurred in the closing seconds of Game 4, which the Knicks won to even the series at two games each. Johnson and Alonzo Mourning exchanged punches, and New York coach Jeff Van Gundy clung to one of Mourning's legs at one point in an attempt to separate the two. Three players were suspended for Game 5: Johnson, Mourning, and Mills, who  left the bench during the fight. The Knicks won Game 5 at Miami to advance to the second round, where they lost to the Pacers in five games. Following the season, Oakley was traded to the Toronto Raptors, while Starks was dealt along with Mills and Cummings to the Golden State Warriors, and Buck Williams retired. For the season, the Knicks changed their home uniforms, adding blue side panels to their jerseys and shorts, while their alternate uniforms they wore on the road frequently for the previous two seasons became their primary road jerseys. Both uniforms remained in use until  2012, although they were slightly redesigned in 2001, where the side panels were removed from the bottom of their shorts. Player statistics. NOTE: Please write player statistics in alphabetical order by last name.