After a devastating upset loss to the Knicks in the 1998 Playoffs, the Heat immediately geared up for the 1998-99 season. The Bulls dynasty was ending with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Phil Jackson all leaving that franchise, and if the previous two seasons were any indication, the Heat were the #1 contenders to claim the top spot in the East. However, just a few weeks into the offseason, a massive lockout began, and it became unclear whether there would even be a 1998-99 season. This was the first work stoppage in NBA history that resulted in missed games. Several months passed and everything remained up in the air. Finally, in January 1999, the National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. All 29 teams played a shortened 50-game regular season schedule beginning on February 9 with very limited days off. Despite the grueling schedule, the Heat emphatically lived up to expectations during the 50-game season, claiming the 1st seed in the East just as they were favored to. Alonzo Mourning in particular had a great season, leading the league in blocks and winning Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named as the Center for the All-NBA First Team (beating out Shaquille O'Neal) and was first runner-up for NBA Most Valuable Player, with Karl Malone winning the award. If Zo had won MVP over Malone, he would have joined Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. The #1 seeded Heat entered the 1999 Playoffs eager to make their most serious run yet at the NBA Championship, with the Chicago Bulls finally out of their way. In the first round, they were once again matched against their arch nemesis, the New York Knicks, who had struggled through the 50-game season and barely slipped into the playoffs with the #8 seed. On paper, Miami should have swept New York with ease, but as the two previous seasons illustrated, anything can happen in the playoffs. This time around, the Knicks took Games 1 and 3 and the Heat took Games 2 and 4, the exact opposite of the year before. For the third year in a row, it came down to one final, deciding game at Miami Arena. The Heat led throughout the entire 4th Quarter and appeared to be closing in on avenging the previous year's loss, but the Knicks managed to cut the deficit to 1. With only a few seconds left in the game, Terry Porter had Latrell Sprewell trapped on the baseline and Miami was on the verge of narrowly escaping. But the unthinkable happened, Porter took a stab at the ball, and it went out of bounds. And the refs declared it was still New York's ball. After Porter had Sprewell trapped with only a few seconds left, the Knicks now had another chance to inbound the ball and attempt a game-winning shot. Charlie Ward inbounded to Alan Houston who immediately dribbled through a massive gap and put up a floater. The ball bounced off the rim, onto the backboard, back onto the rim, and fell in. The Knicks had pulled off one of the greatest upsets in NBA history, becoming just the second #8 seed to knock off a #1 seed in the playoffs. For the second year in a row, the Heat were supposed to soar past the Knicks, but were stopped dead in their tracks. Just after the game had ended, Key Biscayne resident Steven Shaban, who was seated mere feet behind where Pat Riley was positioned, expressed to local reporters "I am entirely, 100% certain that Sprewell touched the ball last. I don't care if the refs were at a bad angle. His reaction when he lost control gave it away. We got robbed, and by a team and franchise that always plays the victim. It's a joke, is what is it is." The Knicks had pulled off a huge upset yet again, and the Heat's season was, again, suddenly over.

• published: 13 Sep 2010
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