Summary
Because of a player lockout, the NBA lost more than three months of the season. Play finally began in February, with a 50-game schedule crammed into 89 days before the playoffs.
The San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz, both in the Midwest Division, won 37 games apiece to lead the league and the Portland Trail Blazers were next with 35 wins. In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers each had 33 victories.
San Antonio, led by Tim Duncan, went through the Western Conference playoffs with ease. After losing the second game of their first-round series to Minnesota, they won 10 in a row, sweeping both the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland to get into the finals.
In the East, the New York Knicks became the first Number 8 seed to reach the championship finals. Their toughest series was a 3-2 win over Miami in the first round. They then swept Atlanta in the semi-finals. Despite the loss of center Patrick Ewing to an Achilles tendon injury in Game 2, the Knicks eliminated the Pacers in six games to advance to the championship round.
Without Ewing, though, New York had no way to contain Duncan. The Knicks managed to win only one game and were held to less than 80 points in three of the five. Duncan, who averaged 27.4 points and 14 rebounds, was named the series MVP.
