“Playoff Jimmy” is a real thing.
Watching Jimmy Butler gut the Knicks defense — or even gut his way through a badly sprained right ankle — wasn’t a surprise.
What’s shocking was the Knicks not making the visibly hurt Heat star pay Sunday during the opener of their second-round playoff series.
Butler, who had 25 points and 11 rebounds in Miami’s 108-101 Game 1 win at the Garden, rolled his ankle while being fouled by Josh Hart with 5:05 left.
But he refused to leave, willing himself to the finish line despite being nearly immobile.
“Find a way to win, be out there, be present. I didn’t do too much except for airball [a free throw], but I’ll take the W,” Butler said in an on-court TV interview.
Asked how his injury felt, he replied, “Like a rolled ankle.”
“We’re just playing great basketball,” Butler said. “We’re together at home on the road, through good and through the bad. We believe we can do something special and we’re going to continue to play as such and see where we end up in the end.”
Butler, who has had a litany of ankle injuries, didn’t talk to the press in the locker room, and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had no update on the grade or severity of the injury.
“Jimmy turned his ankle. I don’t know what you guys want me to say about that,” Hart said with a shrug. “Playing defense, obviously there was a collision. Unfortunately, he turned his ankle. You guys seen the play.”
And the world saw Butler hobble off the court before gingerly returning to take his free throws.
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
“That’s our guy, our star, our franchise player,” Kyle Lowry said. “We always want him to get up and the thought is hopefully he’s OK. But if he’s not we have to hold it down, we’ve got to find a way to win the game.
“But that’s what he does: He finished the game.”
Butler finished it as a decoy on offense and immobile on defense.
Yet the Knicks surprisingly didn’t matchup hunt to punish him with RJ Barrett.
“Tricky situation. Obviously, he wasn’t 100 percent,” Jalen Brunson admitted. “He’s one of the best defenders in the league, so even if his feet aren’t moving fast side-to-side, he has great hands. But as a team we’ve got to do a better job recognizing what’s going on, especially late in the game. It starts with me.”
Even the Heat admitted surprise that the Knicks did not pick on Butler.
“Yeah, especially because he was on RJ, and RJ has been playing so well the last few, three or four games. So yeah a little bit,” said Kevin Love. “He’s so headstrong man, its wild. He leads us every single night, sets the tone for us.
“We knew that this is the type of series it’s going to be it’s going to be physical guys are gonna get banged up. … Obviously, you never want to see somebody of his caliber or anybody on the floor … get an injury or roll their ankle. But for him to keep playing and just still be effective, it just shows you who Jimmy Butler is and what he’s about. … He’s great.”