It's been 23 years since the New York Knicks reached the Eastern Conference finals, and 24 since their last NBA Finals appearance.
And, to get there both times, the Knicks had to fight their way through the Miami Heat.
From 1997 to 2000, the two teams -- in the wake of then-coach Pat Riley going from the Knicks to the Heat in 1995 -- engaged in one battle after another, with each of those series going the distance.
Those intense showdowns, perhaps peaking during the 1998 playoffs when then-Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy was wrapped around Heat center Alonzo Mourning's leg during an in-game skirmish, have created a level of enmity that might not exist among current players but is still strong among both franchise's fan bases.