what years did the knicks win the championship?
1970 NBA Finals 1973 NBA Finals
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 The New York Knicks and the Raptors had a playoff rivalry in 2000 and 2001 . The Raptors made their first @-@ ever playoff appearance during the 1999 – 2000 season , in which they were swept by the Knicks in the first round 3 – 0 . The following season , the Raptors redeemed themselves , defeating the Knicks in the first round 3 – 2 ; this effectively ended the Knicks ' run as perennial NBA championship contenders , which began in the early 1990s . 

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 The Knicks were shorthanded with their starting center , Phil Jordon , out sick . Jordon 's illness was officially reported as influenza but it was widely suspected he was simply hung over . Jordon in an early @-@ season game had played Chamberlain even , scoring 33 points to the Warriors center 's 34 . The Knicks instead started 6 @-@ foot @-@ 10 @-@ inch ( 2 @.@ 08 m ) , 220 @-@ pound ( 100 kg ) , second @-@ year player Darrall Imhoff , a strong defensive player in college who led the California Golden Bears to the NCAA championship in 1959 and won a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics . New York also had 6 @-@ foot @-@ 9 @-@ inch ( 2 @.@ 06 m ) , 210 @-@ pound ( 95 kg ) , backup center Cleveland Buckner , a better shooter than a defender who Chamberlain overpowered for an NBA record 28 points in one quarter two days earlier . 

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 The following year , the Lakers and three other NBL franchises jumped to the fledgling Basketball Association of America . Mikan led his new league in scoring , and again set a single @-@ season scoring record . The Lakers defeated the Washington Capitols in the 1949 BAA Finals . 

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 In 1985 , following in the footsteps of Einhorn who had purchased a United States Football League franchise in 1984 , he purchased the Chicago Bulls as part of a syndicate for US $ 16 million and quickly turned the team from one that averaged 6 @,@ 365 fans per game at the 17 @,@ 339 @-@ seat Chicago Stadium in 1985 into one with an 8 @,@ 000 @-@ person season ticket waiting list . He did so by drafting Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen , and trading for Bill Cartwright to join John Paxson and Michael Jordan under the tutelage of head coach Doug Collins . In 1989 , the team signed Phil Jackson as the final piece of the championship puzzle . From November 20 , 1987 through Jordan 's 1999 retirement the Bulls sold out every game . 

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 The 1971 – 72 season brought several changes . Owner Jack Kent Cooke brought in Bill Sharman as head coach , and Elgin Baylor announced his retirement early in the season after realizing that his legs were not healthy enough . Sharman increased the team 's discipline . He introduced the concept of the shootaround , where players would arrive at the arena early in the morning before a game to practice shots . They won 14 straight games in November and all 16 games played in December . They won three straight to open the year of 1972 but on January 9 , the Milwaukee Bucks ended their winning streak by defeating the Lakers , 120 – 104 . By winning 33 straight games , Los Angeles set a record for longest winning streak of any team in American professional sports . The Lakers won 69 games that season , which stood as the NBA record for 24 years until the Chicago Bulls won 72 games in 1995 – 96 . Chamberlain averaged a career @-@ low 14 @.@ 8 points but led the league in rebounding at 19 @.@ 2 a game . West 's 9 @.@ 7 assists per game ( apg ) led the league , he also averaged more than 25 points , and was named MVP of the 1972 NBA All @-@ Star Game . The team failed to score 100 points just once all year , and at the end of the season , Bill Sharman was named Coach of the Year . The Lakers went on to reach the finals against the New York Knicks where they would avenge their 1970 finals loss by defeating them 4 games to 1 . Chamberlain tallied 24 points and 29 rebounds in game five and won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award . 
