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July 2010

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May

14

5-14-1997: Brawl Sparks Knicks-Heat Rivalry

Filed Under On This Day . . ., NBA, Loose Balls

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After losing to the Chicago Bulls in five games during the 1996 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the New York Knicks spent the following summer making improvements with the hope of squaring off again with the defending champions in the 1997 NBA Playoffs.

The Knicks began by trading Anthony Mason to the Charlotte Hornets for Larry Johnson, and then followed up by signing free agent Allan Houston from Detroit and Chris Childs from New Jersey.

The moves appeared to be paying off for the Knickerbockers as New York took a commanding 3-1 series lead against the Miami Heat in the 1997 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

One win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals and meeting the Bulls, who were in the process of beating the Atlanta Hawks in five games, the Knicks saw things absolutely fall part in Game Five against the Heat as tempers and a rivarly exploded.

With Miami leading late in Game Five, Knicks guard Charlie Ward and Heat forward P.J. Brown were involved in a skirmish after a free throw attempt. Brown would end up tossing Ward into the crowd as the melee broke out.

The NBA would come down hard on both teams after the Game Five fight, but the Knicks would be affected more dramatically.

While Brown was suspended for Games Six and Seven, the Knicks would lose five players over the next two games.

Ward, Patrick Ewing, and Houston would be suspended for Game Six, which the Heat would win in dramatic fashion thanks to a late three pointer at the top of the key by Alonzo Mourning.

The Knicks would be without Johnson and John Starks in Game Seven, a tight affair that Miami would take thanks to late game shooting heroics courtesy of Tim Hardaway.

The Heat would be only the sixth team in NBA history to come back and win a series after trailing 3-1.

Miami would go on to lose in five games to the Bulls in the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals, which also featured a nasty Mourning elbow to Scottie Pippen in Game Four.

The New York-Miami rivalry would renew the following year in the 1998 NBA playoffs and feature another fight, one benefiting the Knicks this time around.

With Miami holding a 2-1 lead in the best of five series, Mourning would lose his cool at Madison Square Garden in Game Four and get in a fight with former Charlotte teammate Johnson.

This fight would be remembered for Knicks Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy clinging on to the legs of Mourning during the chaotic separation of players in the skirmish, which can be viewed at 2:20 of the following video.

Both Johnson and Mourning would be suspended for Game Five, which the Knicks would win in Miami.

The following season, the eighth-seeded Knicks and top-seeded Heat would meet again in another first-round series that went the distance.

Late in Game Five, Houston hit an improbable runner that bounced high off the rim and then fell through the hoop, giving the Knicks the series and making them at the time only the second #8 seed to beat a #1 seed in NBA playoff history.

Those improbable Knicks would ride this momentum all the way to the 1999 NBA Finals, where New York lost to the Spurs in five games.

Amazingly, the Heat would lose another decisive home game to the Knicks in Game Seven of the second round of the 2000 NBA playoffs.

The Knicks would start to drop off the following season, and the Heat would rebuild for a while before winning a title with Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal in the 2006 NBA Finals.

After all was said and done in four straight playoff appearances, the Knicks would take three of four series, all by improbably winning series finales in Miami.

As for the Heat, the organization would be left wondering what could have been as a talented team with Mourning, Hardaway and Jamal Mashburn never won a championship.

For more information on the amazing Knicks-Heat rivarly of the late nineties, check out this Wikipedia entry.