New York Knicks: Five best moments against Michael Jordan

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES: Washington Wizards forward Michael Jordan looks towards the rafters during pre-game ceremonies at the start of his first game, against the New York Knicks, since returning to the NBA for the second time 30 October, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. AFP PHOTO/Matt CAMPBELL (Photo credit should read MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images) /

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Michael Jordan surrounded by Knicks (Jonathan Daniel /Allsport) /

3. The game before The Dunk

Before The Dunk (and if you are a Knicks fan reading this blog and you don’t know what that is, you have navigated to the wrong page), John Starks had perhaps his best and most clutch performance against Michael Jordan in Game 1 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals.

Starks was the victim of plenty of Jordan highlights over his career, but he also had his share of games when he played the legendary shooting guard as tough as anyone could ask.

The Knicks were able to win Game 1 of the ’93 East Finals because John Starks made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter, but more importantly, he held MJ to ten points in the second half, working with his teammates to force him to miss ten of his final 12 shots.

"“Starks played extremely well defensively,” Jordan told reporters after the game. “He really ‘bodied’ me up physically. He got me in tough positions where I couldn’t get the shot I wanted. A couple of them, I forced just because I was totally out of rhythm."

Between Starks’ clutch shooting and defense, the Knicks had Madison Square Garden fans believing they could beat the Bulls and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1973. And remember, this was before The Dunk in Game 2.

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