Worst moment in each NBA franchise’s history
By Brad Rowland
Miami Heat – Losing to the New York Knicks in the 1999 Playoffs
The 1998-1999 season was a wild one in the NBA, largely because the schedule was shortened to only 50 games as a result of a work stoppage. Still, the Miami Heat were able to compile the best record in the Eastern Conference at 33-17, and with that as the backdrop, expectations were sky high for a potential run at the NBA title.
Unfortunately, the Heat could not even emerge past the first round.
Miami ran into an unusual No. 8 seed in the New York Knicks, and in the midst of a lengthy rivalry between the two teams, the Knicks were able to upend the Heat in a five-game series. Knicks swingman Allan Houston put the game-winner through in Game 5 to send New York on what would be an interesting run to the NBA Finals (where the Knicks would lose to the San Antonio Spurs), and in doing so, Houston crushed the dreams of Heat fans everywhere.
The Heat did manage to claim three titles in the Dwyane Wade era (with some help from LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal), but until that time, this loss brutal when evaluating the franchise’s history. Diehards will certainly remember Tim Hardaway shooting 26.8% (!) from the field in the five-game series, but in terms of a broader picture, the Heat were the rare example of a team that failed to hold up its end of the bargain in the first round as a number one seed.
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