The Knicks first game was played on November 1, 1946 against the Toronto Huskies as the New York Knickerbockers at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, where the Knickerbockers won 68-66. The Knickerbockers' first head coach was Neil Cohalan. The Knickerbockers were consistent playoff contenders in their early years. During the first decade of the NBA's existence, the Knickerbockers made the NBA Finals in three straight years, and they were respected by basketball players and fans. For the remainder of the 1950s, the Knicks would field decent, if not spectacular teams, and made the playoffs in 1955, 1956, and 1959.
As a result of the Knicks' dismal performance in the 198485 season, the team was entered into the first-ever NBA Draft Lottery. The team ended up winning the number one pick in that year's NBA Draft. They selected star center Patrick Ewing of Georgetown University. In Ewing's first season with the Knicks, he led all rookies in scoring and rebounds, and he won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. The team would not fare as well, though, as they posted a 2359 record in his first season and a 2458 record in his second season. The team's luck changed in the 198788 season with the hiring of Rick Pitino as head coach, and selection of point guard Mark Jackson in the draft. Combined with Ewing's consistently stellar play, the Knicks made the playoffs with a record of 3844, where they lost to the Celtics in the first round. The team would do even better the next season as the team traded backup center Bill Cartwright for power forward Charles Oakley before the season started and then posted a 5230 record, which was good enough for their first division title in nearly twenty years. In the playoffs, they defeated the 76ers in the first round before losing to the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Before the 198990 season began, a couple of major changes occurred. Pitino left the Knicks to coach the University of Kentucky's basketball team and Stu Jackson was named head coach. The Knicks went 4537 and defeated the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, winning the final three games after losing the first two. They went on to lose to the eventual NBA champion Detroit Pistons in the next round. In the 199091 season, the team, who hired John McLeod as head coach early that season, had a 3943 record and were swept by the eventual NBA champion Bulls. The Knicks have fallen from the top as of late, but still continue to compete. New York Knicks tickets still hold their value however, if they can somehow return to the contender they once were the demand in tickets will be sure to follow.
