Knicks-Heat set to renew rivalry in the playoffs that once featured brawls and suspensions in the 1990s

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There are probably more significant rivalries in NBA history, ones that decided championships like the great battles between the Lakers and Celtics back in the day. There are rivalries that, for geographical reasons always carry a little bit of weight whenever the two teams meet each other, like the Lakers and Clippers. But you would be hard-pressed to find two teams that hated each other more than the New York Knicks and Miami Heat did in the 1990s. Between 1997 to 2000 the Knicks and Heat faced each other four-consecutive times in the postseason. Both teams had star power to make each meeting enticing, but it was the fights, suspensions and trash talk that made it one of the most memorable rivalries in NBA history.

That final meeting in the 2000 postseason served as a bookend to that era for both teams and since then the Knicks and Heat have only met in the playoffs one more time, in 2012. That’s about to change as the Knicks and Heat are set to renew this once hostile rivalry when both teams meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday. The names may change, and the bad blood may no longer be simmering just below the surface, but it’s impossible to ignore the history between these two teams as a new chapter is about to get added to this saga.

In preparation for the Knicks-Heat series, it’s only fitting to take a trip down memory lane and go through all the heated battles between these two teams.

1997: The beginning of a rivalry

The fireworks that set this rivalry in motion may have gone off during the 1997 Eastern Conference semifinals, but the seeds had been planted before the No. 2-seeded Heat took on the No. 3-seeded Knicks. The tension that overtook this series stemmed from a variety of factors. There was the fact that Heat head coach Pat Riley, who coached the Knicks from 1991-1995, plotted his exit to Miami during his final season with New York. Miami was hit with tampering charges and had to fork over their 1996 first-round draft pick and $4 million to the Knicks. The connection between the players on both sides of this…

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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/knicks-heat-set-to-renew-rivalry-in-the-playoffs-that-once-featured-brawls-and-suspensions-in-the-1990s/

Author : Jasmyn Wimbish

Publish date : 2023-04-29 15:38:59

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