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Franchise historyThe Knicks are one of only two teams of the original National Basketball Association still located in its original city (the other being the Boston Celtics). The Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merged in 1949 to form the NBA.
The early yearsThe Knicks' (and the BAA's) first game was on November 1, 1946 against the Toronto Huskies at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, where the Knicks won by the score of 68-66. The Knicks were consistent playoff contenders in their early years, thanks to players like Harry "The Horse" Gallatin, Dick McGuire and Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, one of the first black players in the league. During the first decade of the NBA's existence, the Knicks made the NBA Finals in three straight years (1951-1953), and they were respected by basketball players and fans. For the remainder of the 1950's, the Knicks would field decent, if not spectacular teams, and made the playoffs in 1955, 1956 (where they lost a one-game playoff to the Syracuse Nationals) and 1959.
The lean yearsFrom 1960 to 1966, the Knicks fell on hard times, and they finished last in the NBA's Eastern Division each year. Some of the biggest losses in Knicks history occurred during this time. One such game occurred on November 15, 1960, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 162-100. Another notable loss occurred on March 3, 1962, as the Philadelphia Warriors' Wilt Chamberlain scored a NBA-record 100 points against the Knicks, and the Warriors won the game 169-147.
The championship yearsDuring the Knicks' slide into futility, there were signs of better things to come. In 1964, the Knicks drafted Willis Reed, who went on to become 1965's NBA Rookie of the Year. In 1967, right after the Knicks made it to the playoffs for the first time since 1959, the Knicks hired Red Holzman as their head coach. With Holzman at the helm, and young players such as Bill Bradley and Walt "Clyde" Frazier, the Knicks were playoff teams again in 1968. The next season, the team acquired Dave DeBusschere from the Detroit Pistons, and the team went 54-28. In the ensuing playoffs, the team made it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 1953, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in three games, before falling to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Division finals.
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