Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler looks to pass the ball against the New York Knicks during the first half at Miami-Dade Arena on Friday, March 3, 2023 in Miami. (John McCall, South Florida Sun Sentinel)
It was difficult not to consider the nostalgia amid the fervor.
The Miami Heat in their throwback jerseys. Knicks fans as annoying as ever in New York’s sixth borough.
And a scramble to the finish perhaps not as meaningful as an Allan Houston floater or Tim Hardaway 3-pointer, but still plenty to offer context on an early-March Friday.
So the Knicks went up 17 early, the Heat fought back into a fourth-quarter lead, and down to the wire it went, just as it had to often in Mourning vs. Ewing and Riley vs. Van Gundy.
Ultimately, a wild 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play by Julius Randle off a desperate Knicks scramble gave the Knicks a 122-120 victory.
“That’s just crazy, unfortunate luck on our part,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Randle’s wild winner.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler wasn’t buying that, not after the Heat allowed 70 first-half points in consecutive games for the first time in the franchise’s 35 seasons.
“For some odd reason, we think it’s going to be easy and we just go out there and go through the motions,” Butler said of the Heat putting themselves in Friday’s deep early hole. "
Randle led the Knicks with 43 points, supported by 25 points from prime offseason acquisition Jalen Brunson and 21 from Immanuel Quickley.
For the Heat, there were 33 points from Butler, 29 from Tyler Herro and 18 from Bam Adebayo.
“The second half is the real Heat, obviously,” Adebayo said. “The second half, it was a whole different ball game.”
It was the Heat’s 35th game decided by five or fewer points. The NBA all-time record is 41.
“That’s a tough one,” Spoelstra said, “but we have a tough-minded group.”
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:
1. Closing time: The Knicks led 37-31 after the first quarter and 71-56 at halftime. The Heat then moved within five midway through the third period and three later in the quarter, before going into the fourth down 96-88.
From there, after Butler got his rest at the top of the fourth, the Heat closed within 106-104 on a Victor Oladipo 3-pointer with 6:30 remaining, with a Caleb Martin 3-pointer with 5:45 to play putting the Heat up 107-106.
Later, with Butler missing from the line for only the second time in 20 attempts, the game was tied 112-112 with 3:35 to go.
After falling behind by four, the Heat again tied it, this time at 116-116 with 64 seconds to play on a Butler putback.
But that is when Randle spotted up along the baseline against Adebayo and converted a 3-point play for a 119-116 Knicks lead with 56 seconds remaining.
And then came a moment of truth, with the Knicks challenging a loose-ball foul that would have sent the Heat to the line with 46.9 seconds left. That call was upheld, costing the Knicks their final timeout, with a pair of Herro free throws drawing the Heat within 119–118 and a steal and score on Herro basket putting the Heat up 120-119.
The Heat then appeared to force the Knicks into desperation, with Randle instead converting his 3-pointer to close the scoring with those 1.1 seconds remaining.
“I thought we played great defense,” Herro said of the play.
Said Spoelstra of that scramble, “I think if you did that play 100 times and Jimmy pokes the ball away twice on that play, 99 times out of that it’s going to wind up in our favor.”
2. No answer: The Heat had no answer from the outset against Randle, who closed the opening period with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, including 4 of 6 on 3-pointers.
Randle entered averaging 9.1 points in the first quarter, fifth best in the NBA. Along the way in that first period, Randle passed former Heat forward Kurt Thomas for 22nd on the Knicks’ all-time scoring list.
Randle was up to 25 points at the intermission and 35 entering the fourth.
“Good players can make tough shots,” Spoelstra said.
Or, as Butler said of Randle’s winning shot, “That’s what happens. That’s just the karma of the game, when he’s having a night like he’s having.”
3. Ground and pound: Butler was relentless in working his way to the foul line.
He was up to 19 points at the intermission, when he stood 12 of 13 from the line.
His sixth free throw moved him past former Heat center Alonzo Mourning for 73rd on the NBA all-time list.
Along the way, Butler passed Hassan Whiteside for 14th on the Heat all-time scoring list.
He closed 7 of 15 from the field and 18 of 20 from the line.
The question now is what will be left for the 33-year-old forward on Saturday’s second night of the back-to-back set against the visiting Atlanta Hawks.
“That was just exquisite winning basketball,” Spoelstra said of an effort that also had Butler consistently taking the most difficult individual defensive assignments.
But it wasn’t accompanied by a win.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Butler said. “We did not. And they got one.”
4. Herro ball: In the teams’ previous meeting, Herro was off on a potential game-winning 3-pointer in the Heat’s Feb. 2 loss in New York.
This time, he erupted for 13 third-period points to move to 25 entering the fourth quarter, at 5 of 8 on 3-pointers at that stage, with the rest of the Heat 4 of 12.
He closed 11 of 18 from the field.
“As sad as it is,” Herro said, “you just take it on the chin and move on to the next one.”
5. Pointed approach: With Kyle Lowry again out, the Heat’s lack of depth at point guard again became a factor when starter Gabe Vincent was called for his second foul with 6:40 left in the opening period.
That had Oladipo entering at point guard, with Oladipo called for his second foul with 49.8 seconds left in the opening period. He remained in the game.
Spoelstra said pregame that Lowry also would miss Saturday’s game against the Hawks, with Lowry having been sidelined by knee pain since Feb 2.
Oladipo played as a closer, on a night Vincent was 1 of 6 from the field. Oladipo finished 2 of 9 from the field.
()
Originally published at Tribune News Service