Knick vs. Heat: brawls, nail biters and a clinging coach

It was a basketball rivalry that came not from a thrilling comeback or a hard-fought series, but from a fight. And then it got even brighter – after another fight.

It took two setbacks in these NBA playoffs — the fifth-seeded Knicks over the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks — to get here. But the Knicks-Heat rivalry that burned in the late 1990s has unexpectedly been renewed in an Eastern Conference semifinal series that begins Sunday afternoon.

The teams’ staff are different from a quarter of a century ago, but many of their fans are not, and their long memories, of course, go back to the days of Pat Riley, Charles Oakley, Patrick Ewing and Tim Hardaway. And more than a few will have vivid images in their heads of a 5-foot-9 coach clinging to the leg of a 6-foot-10 player.

The elements were there. Riley, who had managed the Knicks for three seasons, had become the Heat’s coach and there was bad blood over the move. The Heat eventually had to send the Knicks a first-round pick after it emerged they had tampered with Riley while he was still under contract.

The Eastern Conference semifinals did not cool things down. The Knicks were leading by three games to one, but the Heat were on their way to victory in Miami when, with two minutes left, things went wrong.

It started when Charles Oakley of the Knicks bumped into Alonzo Mourning of the Heat and was ejected. On the next play, Charlie Ward of the Knicks crouched and crashed into PJ Brown at knee height. Brown then picked up the 6-foot Ward and threw him out of bounds. This started a melee with many grabs and at least one obscene gesture. Riley got into a screaming game with Dontae’ Jones of the Knicks, who wasn’t even dressed for the game, and Jones exchanged words with some Miami fans.

The most crucial factor was that most of the Knicks team left the bench, and while they didn’t get deeply involved in the ruckus, this violated a hallowed NBA rule meant to limit fighting to those already on the field. stood in the field. Five Knicks are suspended – Ward, Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, John Starks and Larry Johnson – and only one Heat player, Brown. It was a record for heavy post-season suspensions.

Because so many Knicks were suspended, the penalties were staggered: three Knicks would miss Game 6 and two would miss Game 7. The Knicks lost both games, losing their 3-1 lead and the series. Miami lost to the Chicago Bulls in the next round.

Everyone wanted a rematch, and they got it in the first round, as the Knicks—hampered because Ewing had only played 26 games that season due to a broken wrist—were the seventh seed. The New York Times headline in the series preview was “Gentlemen, Sharpen Your Elbows.”

With one second left in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden, and the Knicks on the verge of tying the series at two games apiece, Mourning and Johnson became entangled under the basket. Punches were thrown and it all ended with the Knicks’ coach Jeff Van Gundy on the field, clinging to Mourning’s leg.

“I’m not an idiot,” Van Gundy said. ‘I didn’t attack anyone. I tried to get between the two guys, so no blows were thrown.

“I’ve never been one to let a man take me out,” Johnson said, “especially when it’s such a punk. There is still 1.4 left. That’s cold. That’s cold.” Both fighters were suspended for the final of the five-match series.

This time, however, the Knicks appeared to capitalize, winning Game 5, 98-81, and the series in Miami. They were eliminated by the Pacers in the next round.

1999: A Giant Murder

Round 3 came in a strike year when the regular season had lasted only 50 games. The shortened season produced some strange results, and the Knicks barely crept into the playoffs as the eighth seed. That gave them another first-round game against the Heat, who tied for the best record in the conference.

The teams traded wins and set up a deciding Game 5 in Miami. For once, the series’ most memorable moment involved basketball instead of throwing punches.

Trailing by 1, the Knicks entered the ball with 4.5 seconds remaining. Allan Houston got off a jumper from the free throw line. It bounced off the front of the rim, bounced off the board – and went in.

“It seemed like it stuck for two minutes, not two seconds,” said Houston. “It’s the biggest shot ever for me.”

“If we didn’t get the bounce, we’d be talking about something completely different,” he added.

The Knicks became the second eighth seed to beat a No. 1 seed, a feat matched by the Heat a few times since, including this season. They made it to the Finals in the chaotic season, losing to the San Antonio Spurs.

2000: A whisker of a difference

For the fourth time in four years, there was a Knicks-Heat series and for the fourth time it went the distance. In terms of pure basketball fun, this conference semifinal was probably the first of four matchups. The teams alternated wins for the first six games, which were decided by margins of 4, 6, 1 (in overtime), 8, 6, and 2 points.

Game 7 was in Miami and there was some hard fighting. With 12 seconds left, the Heat, trailing by 1, got the ball in. But Ewing and Johnson prevented Mourning from getting the ball, and Jamal Mashburn refused to shoot. That left the potential winner of the Heat game to an unlikely sharpshooter: Clarence Weatherspoon, who missed his jumper.

Latrell Sprewell got the rebound for the Knicks, but was ruled to have stepped out of bounds with two seconds left. But umpire Dick Bavetta ignored the call, and the Knicks won the game and series, their third straight over the Heat.

Angry Heat fans pelted the field with debris. “That’s why they call him Knick Bavetta,” Hardaway said. “It’s not right.”

The Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers in the conference finals.

The last two decades

Rivalries like Knicks-Heat don’t last forever, at least at that level of red-hot intensity.

After four consecutive playoff meetings, they have met only once in the intervening years, in 2012. The drama was not the same and the Heat, featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, won in five.

But now the rivalry is back. The eighth-seeded Heat shocked the Bucks in five games, helping when Giannis Antetokounmpo left Game 1 early and missed Games 2 and 3. Butler scores 42 points.

The Knicks also beat the Cavs in five, their first playoff series win in a decade. Their defense kept Cleveland at 94.2 points per game and Jalen Brunson averaging 24 points.

Butler, Brunson and their teammates decide the series, not Oakley or Mourning. And maybe it’s played cleanly and a showcase for excellent fundamentals.

But forgive some fans for secretly rooting to see Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau hanging from Bam Adebayo’s legs.