New York Knicks: 15 greatest individual performances of all-time

5. Patrick Ewing goes off against Boston

Patrick Ewing, a man overshadowed by his career coinciding with Michael Jordan’s, but who nonetheless made his mark on New York basketball.

Aside from his counting numbers — which helped him into the Hall of Fame — the 11-time NBA All-Star seemed born to be a Knick, extremely tough and hard-nosed while willing put his body on the line in the name of a victory.

Over the course of his 15 seasons playing in The Mecca, Ewing could fill it up with some of the best big men in the game, putting him in the same class as guys like Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson. It was on March 24, 1990 though, that he would put his full arsenal on display.

Against the hated Boston Celtics no less, Ewing dropped a cool 51 points — a career-best — while missing just nine of his 29 total shots taken, to go along with 18 rebounds.

He could knock down an outside jumper or establish a presence inside. So when he got going, Ewing was very difficult to slow down. Defenses couldn’t really do much besides try to force the ball out of his hand.

Ultimately, this showing of utter dominance would come in the form of a 115-110 loss at the hands of the Celtics. However at the same time, it was a statement for Ewing made fairly early in his career showing off the true range of his powers.

Because of his lack of championship hardware, Ewing’s legacy is diminished some, especially next to some of the games other great centers. Numbers like these though, show just how good he was and that New York’s lack of titles has little to do with him.