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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal
Byline: Ira Winderman
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Allan Houston's retirement last week brought back memories of the one that got away.
Only Heat coach Pat Riley wasn't thinking back to the May 16, 1999 game against the Knicks when Houston's last-second shot eliminated the Heat in the winner-take-all Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs.
Instead, Riley reflected to July 1996, to what could have been _ and what could have been avoided.
"He was one of the first players we met with during free agency that summer," Riley said. "We were zeroing in on Alonzo (Mourning), Juwan Howard and Allan Houston. Back then it was like Monopoly money.
"Obviously we did not sign him, but I always wondered if, in fact, we did, we might have won a world championship. Because the year he hit the runner was the year they ended up in the Finals. That was probably the best team that we had."
Instead, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard signed in `96 with the Knicks, then contributed to a revival that led to that run to the 1999 NBA Finals against the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.
"He did probably change course of our direction as a franchise," Riley said.
To refresh, the Heat was up...
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