Heat-Knicks: A playoff rivalry that’s about to get rekindled

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer

MIAMI (AP) — They brawled in 1997. Jeff Van Gundy clung to Alonzo Mourning’s leg in 1998. Allan Houston got a friendly bounce in 1999. Clarence Weatherspoon didn’t get one in 2000. Amare Stoudemire lost a fight with a glass-enclosed fire extinguisher in 2012. Something always happens when it’s Knicks vs. Heat. And here we go again. There are more storied rivalries in the NBA — Lakers-Celtics and 76ers-Celtics among them — but there is just something about a Heat vs. Knicks matchup that brings out something extra in Miami and New York. They’re about to meet in the NBA playoffs for the sixth time. Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series is Sunday at Madison Square Garden.