In the strike-shortened 1999 pro-basketball season, the New York Knicks barely made the playoffs, sporting a 27-23 record. Their prize for making the playoffs: facing the number-one-seeded Miami Heat. On paper, the Knicks were not supposed to have a chance, but
someone forgot to tell them.
In 1999, the first round of the NBA Playoffs amounted to a best-of-five series. The Knicks
fought the Heat hard and pushed them to five games. Behind center Patrick Ewing’s 22
points and shooting guard Latrell Spreewell’s 14 points off the bench, the Knicks on May 16, 1999, upset the top-seeded Heat, becoming the second eighth seed to defeat a top seed in an NBA series. The score was 78-77.
The Knicks would end up making an unlikely run to the NBA Finals, where they would lose
to the San Antonio Spurs in five games.
