The 1997–98 New York Knicks season was the 52nd season for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). During the off-season, the Knicks acquired Chris Mills from the Boston Celtics, and Chris Dudley from the Portland Trail Blazers. At midseason, the team traded Herb Williams to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for former All-Star forward Terry Cummings. However, Williams never played for the 76ers, and was re-signed by the Knicks for the remainder of the season. In the regular season, the Knicks held a 25–21 record at the All-Star break, and finished with a 43–39 record, which placed them in a tie for second place in the Atlantic Division with the New Jersey Nets. Despite their lowest winning percentage since the 1990–91 season, the team qualified for the NBA Playoffs as the #7 seed. They also hosted the 1998 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks had the fourth-best team defensive rating in the NBA. This season saw All-Star center Patrick Ewing break his wrist trying to catch an alley-oop during a road game against the Milwaukee Bucks on December 20, 1997. The injury kept Ewing out for the rest of the regular season, and the entire Eastern Conference first round series against the Miami Heat. However, he did return for Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Ewing averaged 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in 26 games. Without their star center for most of the season, Allan Houston finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per game, while Larry Johnson averaged 15.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. In addition, John Starks provided scoring off the bench, averaging 12.9 points per game, and finished in fourth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, while Charles Oakley provided the team with 9.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Mills contributed 9.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game off the bench. The team also used Charlie Ward as its starting point guard, with Chris Childs coming off the bench. Ward contributed 7.8 points, 5.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and Childs provided the Knicks with 6.3 points and 3.9 assists per game. During the All-Star Weekend, Houston participated in the 2Ball competition, which replaced the Slam Dunk Contest this season, and Ward participated