1996–97 Miami Heat season

The 1996–97 Miami Heat season was the ninth season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. During the off-season, the Heat signed free agents, All-Star guard and three-point specialist Dan Majerle, P.J. Brown, and Isaac Austin. The team also signed All-Star forward Juwan Howard to a 7-year $100 million contract, but was voided by the league claiming that the Heat exceeded their salary cap; Howard then quickly re-signed with the Washington Bullets.

With the addition of Majerle, Brown and Austin, the Heat got off to a 5–4 start to the regular season, but then posted a nine-game winning streak between November and December afterwards. The team posted a six-game winning streak in January, and later on held a 36–12 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded second-year guard Sasha Danilovic, and second-year forward Kurt Thomas to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Jamal Mashburn. The Heat posted an 11-game winning streak between January and February, posted an eight-game winning streak in March, and another six-game winning streak in April. The Heat won their first Division title by finishing in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 61–21 record, which stood as the franchise mark until the 2012–13 season, and earned the second seed in the Eastern Conference; the team also posted the league's best road record at 32–9, while posting a 29–12 home record at the Miami Arena. Head coach Pat Riley was named the NBA Coach of the Year for the third time, after leading the Heat to a 19-game improvement over the previous season. The Heat had the best team defensive rating in the NBA.

Tim Hardaway averaged 20.3 points, 8.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game, and led the Heat with 203 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while Alonzo Mourning averaged 19.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game, and Mashburn provided the team with 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in 32 games after the trade. In addition, second-year guard Voshon Lenard showed improvement becoming the team's starting shooting guard at mid-season, averaging 12.3 points per game and contributing 183 three-point field goals, while Majerle contributed 10.8 points and 1.5 steals per game, but only played just 36 games due to a back injury, and Brown provided with 9.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. Off the bench, Austin, who played a role as backup center, averaged 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and was named the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year, and Keith Askins contributed 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Hardaway and Mourning were both selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team; however, Mourning did not participate due to a foot injury, in which he missed 16 games this season. Hardaway also finished in fourth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Mourning finished in twelfth place; Lenard finished in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting, while Hardaway finished tied in twelfth place, and Austin finished tied in seventh place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1997 NBA playoffs, the Heat faced off against their in-state rivals, the 7th–seeded Orlando Magic, a team that featured All-Star guard Penny Hardaway, former Heat center Rony Seikaly, and Nick Anderson. The Heat won their first two home games at the Miami Arena, which included a 35-point margin win over the Magic in Game 1, 99–64. However, the Heat lost the next two games on the road, including a Game 4 loss to the Magic at the Orlando Arena, 99–91. With the series tied at 2–2, the Heat won Game 5 over the Magic at the Miami Arena, 91–83 to win in a hard-fought five-game series; the team won their first ever NBA playoff series in franchise history.

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the Heat faced off against the 3rd–seeded New York Knicks, a team that featured All-Star center Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, and Sixth Man of the Year, John Starks; Riley had previously served as head coach of the Knicks from 1991 to 1995. After the Heat trailed 3–1 in the series, a brawl occurred in Game 5 at the Miami Arena, in which the Heat defeated the Knicks, 96–81; during the fourth quarter, Brown picked up Knicks guard Charlie Ward, and threw him off the court, which prompted several Knicks players to come off the bench during the altercation. Five Knicks players were suspended, with four of them receiving automatic one-game suspensions for leaving the bench during an altercation, while Brown was suspended for two games. The Heat won Game 6 over the Knicks on the road, 95–90 at Madison Square Garden to even the series, and then won Game 7 at the Miami Arena, 101–90, in which Hardaway scored 38 points; the Heat defeated the Knicks in a hard-fought seven-game series to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

In their first appearance in the Conference Finals, the Heat faced off against the top–seeded, and defending NBA champion Chicago Bulls, who won the Central Division title, and were led by the trio of All-Star guard Michael Jordan, All-Star forward Scottie Pippen, and rebound-specialist Dennis Rodman. The Heat lost the first three games, but managed to win Game 4 over the Bulls at the Miami Arena, 87–80. However, the Heat lost Game 5 to the Bulls on the road, 100–87 at the United Center, thus losing the series in five games. It was also the fifth playoff matchup between Riley and Bulls head coach Phil Jackson that decade, with the first three meetings from 1992 to 1994 when Riley coached the Knicks, and in last year's playoffs. The Bulls would go on to defeat the Utah Jazz in six games in the 1997 NBA Finals, winning their second consecutive NBA championship, and their fifth championship in seven years.

The Heat finished 25th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 615,160 at the Miami Arena during the regular season, which was the fifth-lowest in the league.