But after Game 2's 82-76 loss to New York, the rite of passage for the Heat has taken a familiar path. Up I-95 to New York with home court advantage in flames and the series tied with the Knicks at 1-1.

The Heat have changed uniforms, changed arenas, shuffled players in and out. What they have not changed is their penchant for crumbling under playoff pressure when facing the Knicks. For the fourth time in the last four seasons, the Knicks have come into Miami and earned a split. And if history does indeed repeat itself, the Knicks will be playing in late May while the Heat will be scheduling tee times.

"We gave it all back in one two hour span," coach Pat Riley said of the Heat's home-court advantage. "When you work that hard for four years you get to that point, where you've got a significant game … and you give it all back in two hours. We did not play with confidence. I didn't like the way we approached the game. We gave it all back."

The Heat not only gave it all back, they virtually handed it to the Knicks. Miami shot an abysmal 57 percent (19-of-33) from the free throw line. At one point in the first half, the Heat missed seven consecutive free throw attempts. Miami didn't fare much better from the field, making only 25 of 74 field goals. Alonzo Mourning followed up his 26 point performance in Game 1 in disappointing fashion with 17 points. 'Zo was bottled up by New York's defensive pressure and missed 13 of his 18 attempts.

How bad was it for the Heat? Consider the fact that Miami held the Knicks to 11 first-half field goals, tying a franchise record, and 28 percent shooting. Yet, Miami still trailed at the half. Miami won every statistical offensive category with the exception of field goal and free throw percentage.

It was the type of clunker Miami had thought it had outgrown. Yet, this was against the Knicks. And it was a crucial Game 2 in Miami. Two things that have made the Miami Heat wilt.

"You've got to step up to the line, you got to make free throws," said Riley, who saw the Knicks win their first game in four tries at the new AmericanAirlines Arena. "It was just a horrendous offensive performance."

Said point guard Tim Hardaway: "We shot ourselves in the foot. We just beat ourselves."

Miami might have beaten itself, but it had nothing on the lesson served up by Knicks point guard Charlie Ward. The Knicks' underrated guard took advantage of a gimpy Hardaway still suffering from a foot sprain. Ward tied with Patrick Ewing for a team-high 13 points to lead six Knicks in double figures. Unlike Game 1, the Knicks tested Hardaway's lateral movement early by running a series of pick-and-rolls.

Ward capitalized on his opportunities by scoring the team's first seven points. And when the Heat made a third-quarter run to trim the deficit to 54-50, Ward's 3-pointer not only upped the advantage to seven points, it crushed any momentum Miami had built.

"Charlie's a real fine point guard," Riley said. "As a quarterback, he does a lot of things for them. He's very quick. He made some big shots for them. He's a winner. He's always been a winner. I thought he controlled the game throughout at that position."

By the fourth quarter, Ward's quickness had taken its toll on Hardaway, who watched the last half of the fourth from the bench after experiencing soreness in the foot. Ward picked up the slack for the Knicks' Big Three of Ewing, Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell -- who finished a combined 9-for-39.

P.J. Brown and the Heat are once again living life dangerously in the NBA playoffs.(AP)

"I knew going in I had to pick up the tempo, get guys easy baskets," Ward said. "In the process I made easy layups.

"I'm not a superstar, I don't get a lot of press. We need guys that hold the team together and I've been trying to since I've been here."

Game 2 is history, but it serves as a bitter reminder of the last three playoff series against the Knicks. Miami again finds itself in its customary position. Miami's locker room was in eerie silence as players rewound Game 2's 48 minutes, wondering what went wrong. About 150 feet down the corridor, the Knicks yukked it up with film director Spike Lee and comedian Chris Rock.

The Heat failed to hold serve on their home court, now they must travel to Madison Square Garden with the same baggage of previous years -- uncertainty and doubt.

"We have been in this situation before," Heat forward Jamal Mashburn said. "That's just a telltale sign of the Knicks and Heat. We just got to go up there and play. They came down and accomplished what they wanted, now we have to do what we need to do."

In the past, Riley has said a playoff series doesn't begin until one team loses a home game. According to that theory, the Knicks/Heat series has officially begun.

The coming games will tell if it has an all-too-familiar ending for the Heat.