Maybe they were due one like this.
Maybe the Heat could sense at halftime — when they were only down five and it felt like it should be 15 — that they could steal this, especially with the Knicks missing Julius Randle, especially with the Knicks shooting the basketball as if the rims were frosted in kryptonite.
Maybe all of these things contributed to the 108-101 thumping the Heat laid on the Knicks Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. That resounding result stole home-court right away from the Knicks and left 19,812 spectators feeling a little bit like theater fans who pack the seats for a big show, only to see a slew of understudies take the stage.
“The ball,” Jalen Brunson said, “wasn’t going in the basket for us.”
You start there, sure. You start with the Knicks misfiring on 27 of the 34 3-point attempts they fired (and maybe throw in for kicks and giggles the eight free throws they missed, too). Brunson, RJ Barrett and Josh Hart were a combined 1-for-16 from long range and the Knicks were outscored by 18 points from deep. That’s hard to overcome.
So was the fact that as the Heat seized control of the game, the Knicks kept allowing Miami players to leak behind them for easy layups. So was the fact that, after Jimmy Butler rolled his ankle late in the fourth, and looked for a time like he might pass out, the Knicks never exploited that on either side of the floor, even though Butler was completely hobbled.
So was this, which might’ve been the biggest factor: In a season when Brunson has been in the middle of every good thing that has happened to the Knicks, on Suday he was in the middle of every scuffle and struggle. He finished with 25 points, but missed all seven of his 3s and had five turnovers.
“Today,” he said, “I was horrific.”
And added: “I’ve got to do better.”
The Knicks can survive either Brunson playing poorly or Randle having to watch the game in civvies. It is hard for them to do so when both things happen. During a 12-minute stretch bridging the second and third quarters, when the Heat went from 12 down to eight up, the Knicks cried out for someone to step up and stop the bleeding.
Brunson tried; he just didn’t have it. Randle was only able to cheer.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks vs. Heat NBA playoff series
- Vaccaro: Knicks’ failure to help Brunson is why their season’s over
- Knicks battle but fall in season-ending Game 6 loss to Heat
- Knicks couldn’t survive two minutes without Brunson
- Brunson’s heroic night spoiled by late turnover
And the day melted away from there.
“They picked up the intensity, played hard and made shots,” said Barrett, who played spectacularly in the first half before cooling in the second, finishing with 26 points and seven assists — but also four turnovers. “We didn’t.”
They didn’t, and it cost them home-court advantage, same as the last time they’d come this far, 10 years ago, when Indiana walked into the Garden and stole Game 1 of the East semis. The Knicks spent the rest of that series trying to catch up and never could; that’s the exact same predicament they find themselves in now.
“We knew how tough this was going to be,” Hart said.
The first two weeks of the postseason had been straight out of a dream for the Knicks, a five-game manhandling of the Cavaliers, two wins on the road, an acre of feel-good vibes following them into this series. Sunday afternoon, they assumed an odd juxtaposition, going from hunters to hunted. The Heat were coming in on just as remarkable a roll.
And it was the Heat who enjoyed the carryover.
“It’s tough playing catch-up,” Brunson said.
But that’s what they had to do on Sunday once the Heat finally took the lead back at 66-64. Seven and a half minutes left in the third, and the Knicks never did get closer than three down the stretch. And it’s exactly what the Knicks have to do in this series. They have to win at least one road game now. They’d sure better hold serve Tuesday night.
“We’ve got to make shots,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
It starts there. They have to start making shots. They have to take advantage of Butler if he shows up a step slow in Game 2. They have to hope that Randle’s ankle gets him back on the floor soon, because while they can survive stretches without their second-best player, they sure don’t want to make a habit of trying.
What was it that Mike Tyson once said? Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. The Knicks got punched in the mouth Sunday afternoon. Let’s see what the plan is now.