Heat–Knicks rivalry
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| First meeting | March 2, 1989 | ||
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| Latest meeting | February 28, 2016 (Madison Square Garden) |
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| Next meeting | TBD | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Meetings total | 141 meetings | ||
| All-time series | 74–64 (NYK) | ||
| Regular season series | 60–52 (NYK) | ||
| Postseason results | 15–14 (MIA) | ||
| Longest win streak | |||
| Current win streak | W1 (MIA) | ||
| Post-season history | |||
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The Heat–Knicks rivalry is a rivalry between the Miami Heat and New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. The two teams met in the postseason four years in a row from 1997–2000, with the Knicks winning three of those series and the Heat winning one. The teams most recently met in the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs, which the Heat won in five games.
The Heat–Knicks rivalry was one of the fiercest in the NBA, and Sports Illustrated considered it the third-best NBA rivalry. Prior to the 1997 NBA Playoffs, no two NBA teams had ever met in the playoffs for four consecutive seasons, with each series going to the maximum possible number of games. The aggressive nature of those four series, defensive struggles marked by numerous foul calls, and intensely physical play, can be traced to the highly defensive style of Pat Riley, former coach of both teams and the rivalries' central figure. This 1990s rivalry created some of the most highly anticipated matchups during its short-lived tenure.
On March 1, 1991, Dave Checketts was named Knicks team president, and hired Riley as head coach for the 1992 season. He turned New York into contenders in a short time, culminating with an Eastern Conference championship in 1994 before losing to Houston in the 1994 NBA Finals, which denied New York from having NBA and NHL championships in the same year, as the Rangers won Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals over the Canucks during the Finals.
Unable to repeat a trip to the Finals in 1995, Riley stepped down as the Knicks' head coach. At the time, many speculated either that he thought the Knicks were no longer a title threat and wanted to move on, or wanted more power. Riley answered that question on September 2, 1995, when he took over as Team President and Head Coach of the Miami Heat. His move caused some controversy, as the Knicks accused Miami of tampering while he was still under contract, which was settled after Miami sent their 1996 first round pick (#19 – Walter McCarty) and $1 million in cash to New York on September 1, 1995. Before the rivalry began the only notable that occurred between the teams was the Heat ending the Knicks 15 game win streak in 1994.
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