Who are the Miami Heat’s biggest rivals?

As every great bettor knows, examining two teams’ past games can be incredibly helpful if you want to gamble on them.

That’s why we’ve prepared a detailed piece that will tell you the most important facts on the Miami Heat’s most prominent rivals — the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers, and the Dallas Mavericks. Read on to learn about each one.

Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks

The rivalry between the home team of The Heatles and the Knickerbockers is a long one that began on March 2, 1989, when the two first clashed. On that day, the Knicks won by nine points, but the two have been true equals since then, giving headaches to both bettors and fans alike.

It’s hard to give good basketball betting tips for two teams that have played against each other for decades, with the Heats winning 79 games and the Knicks 77.

The two were the most poised to beat the other from 1997 to 2000 when they met in four consecutive playoff series. Many exciting and incredible things marked their games, from aggressive plays to foul calls. Interestingly, it was primarily due to one man — Pat Riley, who coached both teams and was known for his defensive style.

After that, the rivalry died down, but in recent years, we’ve all seen some sparks that might be an indication of something exciting yet to come.

Miami Heat vs Chicago Bulls

The two teams truly started competing in the 1990s, during the Bulls’ domination period, while Michael Jordan was playing. The rivalry wasn’t really a rivalry back then, as the Heat were eliminated three times by Jordan’s team, and the Bulls then won the NBA championship after each elimination.

Things started to heat up over time but took a short break until the 2006 NBA playoffs when the Heat won four games and lost only two. That same year, the Heat won the NBA finals as well.

The rivalry truly heated up in the next few years when the Bulls started playing much better and when the Heat brought back Dwayne Wade. It was also the time when the massive stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh signed up, which further intensified the rivalry.

2013 was especially interesting in this heated rivalry when the Heat managed to set a record within the playoffs for the entire NBA. They won by the largest margin ever, with the result being 115-78 in their favor.

Miami Heat vs. Orlando Magic

The rivalry between the Heat and Orlando Magic is so famous that it has its own name — the Sunshine State rivalry since both teams are in the same state.

he teams first met in 1989 and have had more than 120 meetings since then. The Heat have a better record as they have more than a dozen more wins, but, interestingly, both teams have nine consecutive wins against each other.

The rivalry got heated up in the media in the early days of The Heat’s The Big Three but cooled off from 2012 onward. We had only one exciting event in the 2020 All-Star Game when Aaron Gordon from the Magic and Derrick Jones Jr. from the Heat competed against each other.

Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics

The rivalry between these two is not a very long one. It started only in the 2010 playoffs when the Celtics defeated the Heat four times to one.

The start of The Big Three in the Miami Heat happened around the same time, and LeBron stated that the Heat’s big three were a mirror to the Celtics’ own with their three stars Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett.

The two teams intensified their rivalry and met again in the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals when the Heat won 4-1. They were ecstatic and soon moved on to win the Eastern Conference Finals against another major rival, the Chicago Bulls.

This interesting rivalry died down when Ray Allen moved to the Heat, which felt like a massive betrayal to some of his former teammates. The animosity between the two hasn’t died down, though, that’s for sure.

Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers

The two teams played against each other many times, but the rivalry was only triggered in the 2012 playoffs when both teams went too far. During the series, each head coach was fined, while the games were marked by numerous suspensions, confrontations, and fouls. The series eventually ended with 4-2 in the Heat’s favor.

Thankfully, they were better in the following year when they met in the Conference Finals. The games were truly breathtaking, and in the end, the Heat managed to win once again, with the final score being 4:3. 2014 was similar when the Pacers lost yet again. On the other hand, the Heat went further to the NBA Finals for the fourth consecutive time.

Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks

This interesting rivalry began in the 2006 Finals, which were the first for both teams. At the time, the Heat had Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade, while the Mavericks had one of the greatest power forwards in NBA’s history, Dirk Nowitzki. The games were incredible, but the Miami Heat ended up victorious after six meetups, with four wins compared to the Mavericks’ two.

After 2010, the Mavericks managed to get their rematch, even if that was during the regular season. Unfortunately for them, they never won another game in their bigger showdowns with the Heat. However, they haven’t really played against each other either, with the last postseason game being in 2011-12.

Interestingly, this hasn’t destroyed the rivalry, most notably for Mark Cuban’s comments about the Heat. The majority owner of the Mavericks even went so far as to state that hate wasn’t a big enough word to describe his extreme dislike of the Miami Heat.