 In the last game of the season, at the United Center, the Knicks defeated the then-69–12 Chicago Bulls, preventing them from posting two consecutive 70-win seasons in a row, and tying the best home record (40–1 set by the 1985–86 Boston Celtics).In the playoffs, New York defeated the Charlotte Hornets in a three-game sweep in the first round and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they faced the Miami Heat in what would eventually become the first chapter of one of the fiercest NBA rivalries of the period.After jumping to a 3–1 lead in the series, the Knicks were eliminated by the Heat in seven games, after a brawl erupted at the end of Game 5 that led to the suspensions of five key Knicks players