Even after outlasting the Milwaukee Bucks in a historic first-round feat, head coach Erik Spoelstra can’t get more excited about how his Miami Heat team will fare against the New York Knicks in the Conference Semis.
“I’m just glad that we get to move on, and it’s always good for the league when there’s a Heat-Knicks playoff series,” said Spoelstra in postgame.
Hours before they knocked off the Bucks and advanced, the fifth-seeded Knicks already booked their ticket to the second-round after dismantling the fourth-placed Cleveland Cavaliers on their home turf via gentleman’s sweep.
Miami and New York do share an old rivalry, which reached its peak in the late 90s up to the early 2000s. Their basketball conflict starred Pat Riley, who initially served as the Knicks’ head coach but parted ways and joined the Heat as their new president and mentor following the 1994-95 season.
Riley’s exit via fax caused a major stir around the Knicks franchise, as they believed that the Heat tampered in their pursuit for him. The matter was then settled when Miami decided to ship their 1996 first-round pick and a $1 million cash consideration to New York.
Since then, both ball clubs have shared that intensified bad blood with each other. The Knicks and the Heat met in the playoffs each year from 1997 to 2000, with all four series reaching seven games and were played in a highly physical bout. During this four-year span, the Heat and the Knicks have split up their rivalry matchups, sharing two series victories each.
Fast forward in 2023, Miami is ready to battle it out on their rekindled conflict with New York under the lead of Jimmy Butler, who is currently on a historic tear and averaged a godly 37.6 points, 7.0 boards and shot an overwhelming 59.7 percent from the field against Milwaukee. As such, his all-time playoff run will be tested by the defensive mechanisms of the Knicks who shutted down Donovan Mitchell on their first-round set.
The Knicks hold the advantage on their four-game season series against the Heat this 2022-23, winning three of all the contests.
Both teams will collide for their second-round opener on Sunday in Madison Square Garden.
