Miami mauls New York 105-86 to take a 2-1 series lead as the Knicks fail to handle the Heat

Jimmy Butler returned after missing Game 2 with an ankle injury, not that he needed to.

Miami crushed the Knicks 105-86 in its first home game of the best-of-seven series to establish a 2-1 lead ahead of Game 4 at the Kaseya Center.

Miami took control from the tip and never looked back in a complete performance filled with contributions from the starters and bench. Its roster, which includes seven undrafted players, outperformed a Knicks team not ready for the home onslaught.

Cody Zeller and Julius Randle added an extra element to the otherwise mundane affair with the Heat up big in the final seconds of the third. After becoming tangle up several plays earlier, the two engaged after an Immanuel Quickley bucket.

Tech fouls were issued to Zeller, Isaiah Hartenstein and Caleb Martin for their roles in the scuffle. Randle was chuckling while seated against the padding of the pole amid the fracas. 

What followed wasn’t so funny for the Knicks and the smattering of New Yorkers who grew quieter as the game went longer.

Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry had reason to be jovial as the Heat put on a clinic vs. the Knicks

Randle was resultantly given a free throw, which he missed — much to the pleasure of the home crowd Heat fans. It summed up Saturday for New York who failed to consistently compete with a Heat team who capitalized on the lethargic and fundamentally unequipped Knicks. 

So much so, Jimmy Butler took a break from terrorizing the New York franchise immediately following the scuffle to spin the ball on his finger in a show of skill and context as to the significance of the remaining minutes. 

Still, a quarter was to be played out in which Miami continued the status quo, maintaining a healthy double-digit lead. 

The way Quickley went down was anything but. The spirited rotational piece had his ankle got caught underneath a sprawling Bam Adebayo while fighting for a loose ball with 6:15 remaining. 

He writhed in pain on the hardwood with Tom Thibodeau even coming out to check on the third-year guard, adding another blow to an already dismal afternoon in South Beach. 

To the Knicks’ credit they didn’t quit but could not recover from a slow start. So slow that the road team never led in Miami.

Before returning to a ravenous Madison Square Garden, New York have an opportunity for redemption Monday night in the 305.