The New York Knickerbockers, better known as the New York Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City that competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team has played in the NBA throughout the league's entire history. The Knicks play in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division. In its 79 seasons, the franchise has reached the NBA Finals eight times and won two championships. As of the end of the 2024âÂÂ25 season, the Knicks have won more than 3,000 regular season games, and the team has the fourth-highest victory total in NBA history. Since 1968, the Knicks have played home games at Madison Square Garden.
One of the Basketball Association of America's (BAA) 11 teams during its inaugural season, the Knicks won the league's first game, defeating the Toronto Huskies 68âÂÂ66 on November 1, 1946. The team qualified for the playoffs in the league's first three seasons before the BAA merged with the National Basketball League in 1949 to form the NBA. Following the merger, the Knicks extended their streak of playoff appearances to nine consecutive years. The team reached the NBA Finals each year from 1952 to 1954. They returned to the Finals in 1970 and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games for the team's first title. The Knicks and Lakers faced each other again in the 1972 Finals, a series that the Lakers won four games to one. The Knicks earned their second NBA championship the following year, as they won a rematch with Los Angeles in five games.
From 1988 to 2001, the franchise made the playoffs in 14 consecutive seasons. The team reached its first NBA Finals in 21 seasons in 1994, losing to the Houston Rockets in seven games. Five years later, the Knicks again lost in the NBA Finals, this time in a five-game series against the San Antonio Spurs. The team struggled during the early years of the 21st century, winning only one playoff series between 2001 and 2022. The Knicks returned to the playoffs in the 2022âÂÂ23 season where they reached the conference semifinals, and later played in the conference finals in 2024âÂÂ25.
Note: Statistics are correct as of the .