1998-99 NBA ATS Standings

Here are the final NBA standings for the 1998-99 basketball season. Included are the straight up records, ats records, offensive efficiency, and defensive efficiency for the teams.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

View ATS and straight up records for the previous NBA seasons below.

Recap of the 1998-99 NBA Basketball Season

The '98 - '99 season is the one with an asterisk.

The season began with a lockout, due to a failure to reach a collective-bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. The season was shortened to 50 games, and no All-Star game was held, although the full postseason schedule was unimpeded. An agreement was reached mid-January, and the first game of the season was held on Feb 5th, 1999.

The Sacramento Kings showed a commanding effort this season - for the first time in 14 years, they won more than 50% of their games, and they did it with a panache that captured the league's attention. Chris Webber, who had just joined Sacramento in the off-season, led the league in rebounds, while Jason Williams and Vlade Divac gave solid and sometimes dazzling performances.

The Indiana Pacers, the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat all went 33 - 17, while the Portland trail Blazers had a 35 - 15 record. The Utah Jazz and the San Antonio Spurs tied for the best record with 37 wins apiece. The Chicago Bulls, despite being defending champions, showed how much they missed Michael Jordan by sinking to the bottom of their Division and finishing with a horrendous 13 - 37 effort.

In the playoffs, only their lack of experience and a 20-foot jumper - with seven-tenths of a second left - prevented Sacramento from eliminating Utah in Game 4 of the first round. Had John Stockton missed the shot, the Kings would have advanced; instead, the Jazz went on to win the Game 5 and the series. However, regular-season MVP Karl Malone couldn't carry the Jazz past the Trail Blazers; they lost to Portland in the Conference semifinals, 4 - 2.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Pacers made a commanding playoff start by sweeping the first two rounds; however, they ran into the unlikely almost-heroes of 1999 - the New York Knicks - during the Conference Finals, and were shown the door. The Knicks had defeated Miami in a tense first round series - only the second time in NBA history that an eighth seeded team defeated the number one seed - and had then swept Atlanta in round two. By sending the Pacers on their way, the Knicks also became the only number eight seed in NBA history to make a Finals appearance.

In the end, however, the '98 - '99 NBA season was for the San Antonio Spurs. The "Two Towers", David Robinson and Tim Duncan, led the San Antonio Spurs to the first championship in franchise history with a 4 - 1 series victory over the Knicks. Having put in a stellar performance all post-season, and convincing many that he was the best player in the league, Duncan was named the Finals MVP.

Other Season honors included the Defensive Player of the Year award, given to Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat, and the Rookie of the Year award, won by Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors. Mike Dunleavy, of the Portland Trail Blazers, was named Coach of the Year, while Darrel Armstrong of the Orlando Magic received double honors by taking home both the Sixth Man of the Year and the Most Improved Player awards.