1998–99 Miami Heat season

The 1998–99 Miami Heat season was the 11th season for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.

During the off-season, the Heat signed free agents Terry Porter, Clarence Weatherspoon, and later on signed Blue Edwards in February. The team went on a 7-game winning streak after a 1–3 start to the regular season, winning 18 of their first 23 games, despite Jamal Mashburn only playing just 24 games due to a left knee injury, and Voshon Lenard missing 38 games with a stress fracture in his left leg. The Heat finished in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 33–17 record, and earned the first seed in the Eastern Conference.

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. 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.

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. Meanwhile, Porter finished tied in fifth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and head coach Pat Riley finished in fifth place in Coach of the Year voting.

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. 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. However, the Heat lost Game 5 to the Knicks at home, 78–77 at the Miami Arena, in which Houston hit the game-winning buzzer-beater, as the Knicks defeated the Heat in a hard-fought five-game series. 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. The Heat later did 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.

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; this was also the team's final full season playing at the Miami Arena. Following the season, Porter signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs, while Terry Mills re-signed with his former team, the Detroit Pistons, and Edwards, and long-time Heat forward Keith Askins were both released to free agency.