1999 New York (8) vs Miami (1)
New York won series 3-2
Due to the lockout disrupting the start of the season, the NBA scheduled only a 50-game season. The Miami Heat backed up their 55-wins from the previous season by finishing atop the Eastern Conference with a 33-17 record. The Knicks, meanwhile, snuck into the playoffs with a 27-23 record fro the eighth seed.
This represented a repeat of the previous season’s first round, when the seventh seed Knicks toppled the second seeded Heat. Over the course of the season, the Heat and the Knicks were both ranked in the top four in the league for defence. The Heat allowed just 84.0 points per game and the Knicks 85.4 per game.
With ex-Knicks head coach Pat Riley leading the Heat, and his understudy in New York, Jeff Van Gundy, now in charge with the Knicks, defence was always going to be at the top of the menu.
And that’s exactly how it turned out. Over the course of the series, the PACE (the average possessions per 48 minutes) was 80.3. Compare that with the current day NBA, where this season the lowest PACE per game is the Utah Jazz at 93.71 per game.
Side note: Over the course of the 1998-99 season, just one team averaged at least 100.0 points per game – the Sacramento Kings at 100.2 points per game. During the current 2016-17 season, just one team averages below 100.0 points per game – the Dallas Mavericks at 97.8 per game.
The Heat would manage just 79.0 points per game at a 40.0 percent clip from the field. All-star center Alonzo Mourning led both teams in scoring with 21.6 points per game. But he had little help, with role player P.J. Brown ranking second for the Heat at just 10.2 per game.
The Knicks had a more balanced attack, with four players averaging in double figures, led by Latrell Sprewell with 16.2 per game.
But in the end, the series ultimately came down to one possession, the Knicks with possession and trailing but one. This is how it played out:
Knicks guard Allan Houston hit what would be referred to as the “Shot Heard ‘Round The World.”
Anything can happen in the playoffs.