1998–99 Miami Heat season

Off-season

During the off-season, the Heat signed free agents Terry Porter,^[3][4][5] Clarence Weatherspoon,^[6][7][8] and later on signed Blue Edwards in February.^[9][10]

Regular season

With the addition of Porter and Weatherspoon, the Heat struggled losing three of their first four games of the regular season, but the posted a seven-game winning streak afterwards. The team posted a six-game winning streak in March, and another six-game winning streak in April. Despite Jamal Mashburn only playing just 24 games due to a left knee injury,^[11][12][13] and Voshon Lenard only appearing in just twelve games due to a stress fracture in his left leg,^[14][11] the Heat finished in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 33–17 record, and earned the first seed in the Eastern Conference.^[15]

Alonzo Mourning averaged 20.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.9 blocks per game, and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year; he was also named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.^[16][17][18] In addition, Tim Hardaway averaged 17.2 points and 7.3 assists per game, led the Heat with 112 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, while Mashburn provided the team with 14.8 points per game, P.J. Brown provided with 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, and Dan Majerle, who became the team's starting shooting guard, contributed 7.0 points per game and 68 three-point field goals. Off the bench, Porter contributed 10.5 points per game, and Weatherspoon averaged 8.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.^[19]

Mourning also finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz; Mourning finished with 36 first-place votes, while Malone had 44 first-place votes.^[20][21] Meanwhile, Porter finished tied in fifth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting,^[21] and head coach Pat Riley finished in fifth place in Coach of the Year voting.^[21] The Heat finished 23rd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 378,813 at the Miami Arena during the regular season.^[19][22]

NBA playoffs

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1999 NBA playoffs, and for the third consecutive year, the Heat faced off against the 8th–seeded New York Knicks, a team that featured All-Star center Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, and sixth man Latrell Sprewell.^[23] The Knicks took a 2–1 series lead, but the Heat managed to win Game 4 on the road, 87–72 at Madison Square Garden to even the series.^[24][25][26] However, the Heat lost Game 5 to the Knicks at home, 78–77 at the Miami Arena, in which Houston hit a memorable game-winning buzzer-beater, as the Knicks defeated the Heat in a hard-fought five-game series.^[27][28][29] With this loss, the Heat became the second number one seed in league history to lose an NBA playoffs series against a number eight seed.

The Knicks would become the first #8 seed to advance to the NBA Finals, but would lose to the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the 1999 NBA Finals.^[30][31][32] The Heat would later on accomplish the deed themselves by defeating the top–seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the opening round of the 2023 NBA playoffs, becoming the second eighth-seed to advance to the NBA Finals.^[33]

Aftermath

This was also the Heat's final full season in which they played their home games at the Miami Arena.^[34] Following the season, Porter signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs,^[35][36][37] while Terry Mills re-signed with his former team, the Detroit Pistons,^[38][39] and Edwards, and long-time Heat forward Keith Askins were both released to free agency.^[40]

Draft picks

More information Round, Pick ...

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club team
2	51	Corey Brewer	Guard	United States	University of Oklahoma

Close

Season standings

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

Regular season

Playoffs