Injuries limited Mashburn to 48 games in the 1997–98 season, but he started in each game he played and averaged 15.1 points a game as Miami won 55 games before losing in a five-game first round series to the Knicks. Mashburn started in 3 of the games and saw his production slip. The following season would be shortened to 50 games due to a league lockout, and injuries again limited Mashburn to just 23 starts with averages of 14.8 points a game with 6.1 rebounds a game. Miami captured the best record in the Eastern Conference, but once again lost in the first round to New York, as Mashburn averaged 10 points in the five game series.