It feels like 1998 down on South Beach.
OK, maybe just a little bit.
No legs were grabbed, but there was a minor fracas the Knicks’ 105-86 blowout loss to the Heat in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference best-of-seven semifinal series.
While Julius Randle tried to box out Cody Zeller on Immanuel Quickley’s shot attempt late in the third quarter, Zeller pushed Randle down below the basket.
That led to tempers flaring, with Isaiah Hartenstein and Cody Martin both involved, while Randle was caught on camera seeming to say, “Come on.”
Hartenstein seemed to shove at Zeller, before Zeller was pulled away from the scrum.
The scuffle was quickly broken up and, by Knicks-Heat standards, wasn’t much.
But it was at least a hint of the old rivalry, which flared throughout the late 1990s.
This is the first time we’ve seen temperatures rise during this edition of the series, which is the first playoff matchup between the two teams since 2012, when the LeBron James-led Heat easily dispatched the Knicks.
If there is any supplemental discipline from this incident (which is not likely) it may come down to whether anyone left the bench.
The Knicks were down big at the time, which had been the state of play for much of the afternoon.
Though they fought back to win Game 2 at The Garden.
Jimmy Butler’s return from injury in Game 3 threw a wrench into things, with Butler leading Miami in scoring.
Miami is set to take a 2-1 lead in the series, which shifted to South Beach on Saturday, spending much of Game 3 in cruise control.
Game 4 will be on Monday night.