Allan Houston improved dramatically in his first three pro seasons with the Detroit Pistons, then joined the New York Knicks as a veteran free agent and played a key role in their 57-win season in 1996-97. Following Patrick Ewing's wrist injury in 1997-98 he emerged as a team leader, averaging 18.4 ppg, and he did so again when Ewing was hurt in the second half of the 1998-99 season and the playoffs. His basket with eight-tenths of a second left gave New York a dramatic 78-77 victory over Miami in Game 5 of the First Round of the 1999 Playoffs, as the Knicks joined the 1994 Denver Nuggets as the only No. 8 seeds in NBA history to defeat a No. 1 seed.
Houston was drafted by the Pistons as the heir apparent to Joe Dumars in the backcourt. A 6-6 guard with a terrific shooting touch and a pure scorer's mentality, Houston had lit up the scoreboard in four seasons at Tennessee, averaging better than 20 points per game throughout his career. He left college as the top scorer in Tennessee history, the No. 2 scorer in Southeastern Conference history and the 13th-leading scorer in NCAA history. Chosen by the Pistons with the 11th pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, Houston enjoyed modest success in his rookie season, appearing in 79 games and starting 20. He averaged 8.5 points per contest. A seldom-used reserve early in 1994-95, his second season began slowly, but he moved into the starting lineup during the second half of the campaign and averaged better than 20 points per game following the All-Star break. He really came into his own in 1995-96 when he averaged 19.7 points per game and set franchise three-point record by shooting .427 on 191-for-447.
Following the season he became a veteran free agent and signed a long-term contract with the New York Knicks. Houston went through a period of adjustment with New York but seemed to get more comfortable with his role as the 1996-97 season wore on. He averaged 14.8 ppg during the regular season but boosted that to 19.2 ppg in the playoffs. When Patrick Ewing went down with a wrist injury 26 games into the 1997-98 season, Houston was one of those who picked up the slack and led the team to the playoffs, averaging 18.4 ppg and netting 82 three-pointers. Houston again stepped up when Ewing got hurt in 1998-99. He averaged 16.3 ppg in the regular season and 18.5 ppg in the playoffs, logging more minutes than any other Knick and helping the team to the Eastern Conference Championship with a team-high 19.0 ppg in the Conference Finals against Indiana.
1999-2000 NOTES
Houston totaled 30 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in a 99-96 win over Orlando on Nov. 27, and posted a team-high 29 points (10-15 FG) in a 93-90 loss in Minnesota on Nov. 11. He scored a game-high 30 points (12-12 FT) in a 111-101 OT win over Milwaukee on Nov. 8, and tallied a team-high 29 points (10-13 FG) in a 103-91 victory in Detroit on Nov. 5. Houston also registered a game-high 23 points (10-15 FG) and 7 rebounds in an 84-74 win at Chicago on Nov. 3.
1998-99 NOTES
Houston started all 50 games for the Knicks and averaged 16.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.70 steals in a team-high 36.3 minutes per game, shooting .418 from the field, a team-high .407 from three-point range and a career-high .862 from the free throw line. He ranked 11th in the NBA in free throw accuracy, aided by a streak of 23 consecutive free throws made April 17-26. He led the Knicks in scoring 15 times, getting 20 or more points on 14 occasions topped by 30 against Charlotte on April 23. He twice grabbed seven rebounds and he handed out five assists six times.
Houston ranked 14th in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 57-for-140 from behind the arc. He canned five three-pointers against Philadelphia on February 19 and tied a team record set by Trent Tucker in 1984-85 by sinking 10 in a row February 18-21. His three-point shot with 4.6 seconds left in overtime capped a 26-point night and gave New York a dramatic 115-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 25. In the season's last eight games, when New York went from a .500 mark to grab the final playoff berth in the East, he averaged 17.0 ppg, shot .473 from the field and .500 from downtown. In addition to his season-high 30 points against Charlotte on April 23, he had two key assists in a win over Miami on April 25, scored 22 points in a victory over Philadelphia on April 29 and had 21 points as the Knicks clinched a playoff spot by beating Boston on May 3.
Houston was New York's second leading scorer in the playoffs, averaging 18.5 ppg. He led the club with 19.0 ppg in the Conference Finals against Indiana, outplaying Pacers star and Knicks nemesis Reggie Miller in the series. His shining moment, however, came in the closing seconds of game 5 of the First Round at Miami when he drove to the land and put up an off-balance eight-footer that bounced off the front rim, caromed high off the backboard and went in with 0:00.8 on the clock. That shot gave New York a 78-77 victory and made the Knicks one of only two eighth-seeded teams in NBA history, with the 1994 Denver Nuggets, to defeat a top-seeded club.
Houston led the Knicks in free-throw percentage (.862, 11th in the NBA), three-pointers made (57) and attempted (140) and three-point percentage (.407, 14th). He was one of only two Knicks to start all 50 games and led the team in scoring in 15 games. He registered 21 points (8-14 FG, 5-5 FT), 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a 95-88 victory over the Boston Celtics on May 3, and posted a season and game-high 30 points (10-13 FG) and 4 assists in an 110-105 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on April 23. He scored 13 of his game-high 29 points (4-6 3FG) in the 3rd quarter, and grabbed 5 rebounds, in a 94-87 win over the Phoenix Suns on March 26. Houston hit the game-winning three-pointer with 4.5 seconds left, totaling a game-high 26 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, in a 115-113 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 25. He recorded a game-high 26 points (10-15 FG, 4-5 3FG, 2-2 FT), 5 assists and 3 steals in a 79-63 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Feb. 21, and registered a game-high 25 points, hitting 5-of-5 three-pointers, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in a 78-67 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Feb. 19.
1997-98 NOTES
Houston re-established himself as one of the NBA's best shooting guards by averaging 18.4 ppg to rank 23rd in the NBA. He picked up some of the slack caused by the wrist injury to Patrick Ewing after 26 games, leading the rest of the Knicks in scoring, ranking second on the team with 82 three-pointers and also contributing 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists in a team-high 34.7 minutes per game. He shot .447 from the field including .385 from three-point range and .851 from the free throw line, the latter ranking 15th in the NBA.
Houston started all 82 games for the Knicks, including 10 games at small forward late in the season when the team was hit by injuries to its frontcourtmen. He scored 20 or more points 37 times and 30 or more points six times, leading the team in scoring 34 times. He tallied a season-high 34 points twice within a week, shooting 11-for-18 against Cleveland on February 15 and 16-for-20 at Portland on February 20. He had 10 consecutive games scoring 20 points or more from January 26 through February 17, part of a string of 29 consecutive double-figure scoring games. Houston was the Knicks' leading scorer in the playoffs, averaging 21.1 ppg and shooting .434 from the field, .391 from three-point range and .862 from the foul line. He played a team-high 40.3 mpg and also contributed 3.8 rpg and 2.8 apg.
1996-97 NOTES
Houston began his Knicks career auspiciously, scoring 28 points in the season opener at Toronto, then underwent an adjustment period as he fit in with new teammates. He finished the season as New York's second-leading scorer at 14.8 ppg, but that was nearly five points below his previous season's average of 19.7 ppg. Houston's shooting percentages also dropped across the board: his field goal percentage went from .453 to .423, his three-point percentage from .427 to .385 and his free throw percentage from .823 to .803. Nonetheless, he led the Knicks' regulars in three-point accuracy and free throw accuracy and ranked second on the Knicks in three-pointers made (148) and attempted (384).
Houston scored a season-high 32 points, including 6-for-9 from three-point range, in a 110-103 win at Philadelphia on Dec. 20, one of 15 games in which he scored 20 points or more. He played and started in 81 games, both team-highs, missing only the March 19 game at Philadelphia due to a stomach virus. Houston boosted his scoring average to 19.2 ppg during the playoffs, when he again ranked as New York's second-leading scorer. He was especially effective from three-point range, shooting .500 on 26-for-52, all team-highs. He scored 25 points in Game 1 against Charlotte, 27 in Game 1 against Miami and 25 in Game 7 against Miami.
1995-96 NOTES
Houston solidified his status as one of the NBA's premier outside scoring threats as he raised his scoring average dramatically to 19.7 points per game, second on the Pistons. He broke his own Pistons single-season records with 191 three-pointers made in 447 attempts for a .427 percentage, surpassing the marks of .424 on 158-for-373 which he set the previous year.
Houston played in all 82 games for the first time in his career and started the last 75, raising his minutes per game to 37.5 from 26.3 in 1994-95. He contributed 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, but his primary role was scoring. He tallied in double figures in 73 of 82 games, reached 20 points in 42 games and scored 30 or more points six times, with a career-high 38 points against Atlanta on March 28. He led the Pistons in scoring 36 times, including 30 times in the last 58 games.
Houston ranked 10th in the NBA in three-point field goal percentage, 21st in scoring, 23rd in minutes per game and 33rd in free throw percentage (.823). He grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds against Boston on April 11 and set career highs with 14 free throws made in 15 attempts at Seattle on Feb. 28. Houston was Detroit's leading scorer in its playoff series against Orlando, averaging 25.0 points for the three games, and also topped the Pistons with seven three-pointers.
1994-95 NOTES
The 1994-95 season marked Houston's arrival as a major NBA scoring threat, yet at the midpoint of the campaign it looked as if Houston's second year in the NBA would be as undistinguished as his first. Benched for 6 of the season's first 12 games, he reached the All-Star break with a scoring average of 8.1 points per contest. From that point on, however, he was one of the hottest scoring guards in the league: in the 36 games following the All-Star break he averaged 21.6 points, and during the season's final 18 contests he scored 25.6 points per outing.
Injuries to Joe Dumars and Lindsey Hunter provided Houston with some extended minutes, and once he got hot, Coach Don Chaney couldn't keep him out of the lineup. Houston turned in a number of stellar performances during the second half of the season. At Chicago on February 17 he tied an NBA record with 7 three-point baskets in the second half on the way to a 33-point evening. He cashed in for a career-high 36 points against the Denver Nuggets on March 10, thanks to a franchise-record 6 three-pointers in the fourth period. He tied his career high on April 11 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Houston finished the season with an average of 14.5 points per game, a jump of 6.0 points per contest over his rookie season. He led the team in three-pointers attempted and made and paced the club with a .424 three-point field-goal percentage, good enough for 12th in the league. He ranked 13th in the NBA in free-throw percentage at .860.
1993-94 NOTES
Talent scouts in the NBA became aware of Allan Houston early. As a freshman at the University of Tennessee-where he played for his father, Wade-the smooth-shooting guard tallied 43 points and 11 assists in a game against Louisiana State. Houston went on to average better than 20 points in each of his four seasons and completed his college career as Tennessee's all-time leading scorer with 2,801 points. He amassed 806 points as a sophomore to surpass Dale Ellis's single-season school record and became the first Volunteer since Bernard King to reach 1,000 points in less than two seasons.
The Detroit Pistons launched Houston's NBA career when they selected him with the 11th overall pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. The Pistons also owned the No. 10 selection and used it to take another guard, Jackson State University's Lindsey Hunter. The drafting of Houston and Hunter led to the natural speculation that the Detroit front office was preparing for the eventual loss of Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. Sure enough, Thomas retired after the 1993-94 season. But while Thomas was hobbled by injuries for much of the season, Dumars was still going strong, and as a result Houston spent most of the year as an understudy. He appeared in 79 games as a rookie, seeing action at both off guard and small forward for an average of 8.5 points in 19.2 minutes per contest.
In a game against the Charlotte Hornets on April 23, Houston hit 6 of his 12 three-point attempts en route to a season-high 31 points. He also competed in the Slam-Dunk Contest during NBA All-Star Weekend festivities in Minneapolis, finishing fourth.
