MIAMI — If this was a litmus test of where these teams stand when at full strength, the Knicks may not be long for these playoffs.
There wasn’t any one thing that did them in on Saturday afternoon, but that was the problem.
It was everything.
It was their sloppy play at both ends of the floor. It was their lack of energy and execution.
It was their inability to defend the Heat and create quality shots.
A healthy Jimmy Butler had his way with coach Tom Thibodeau’s team, but he was hardly the only one. Everyone wearing white enjoyed himself.
This was a 48-minute beatdown, a one-sided setback in which the teams didn’t look like they should be sharing the same court.
The Heat took Game 3 in convincing fashion, cruising to a 105-86 victory at Kaseya Center.
The Knicks have 48 hours to figure out their myriad issues to avoid falling into a 3-1 series hole Monday night.
“I think we [have done] a good job of responding [all year],” Jalen Brunson said after the Knicks scored a season-low in points. “For us, we have to respond again.”
With the game well in hand late in the third quarter, a minor pushing incident broke out, with Cody Zeller, Caleb Martin and Isaiah Hartenstein all issued technical fouls.
It was a footnote to what was the Knicks’ worst performance of the postseason.
They were again awful from 3-point range, making just 8 of 40 attempts, and they had no answer for Butler, who scored 28 points after missing Game 2 with an ankle injury.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks vs. Heat NBA playoff series
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- Brunson’s heroic night spoiled by late turnover
The Knicks were outrebounded for the first time in the series and were a step slow, beaten to loose balls all afternoon.
They were outscored in the paint, 50-36, and allowed 18 second-chance points.
To make matters worse, super-sub Immanuel Quickley sprained his left ankle with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter and said afterward he was in pain.
“No idea,” he said when asked of his status for what is now a crucial Game 4. “We’ll see.”
Julius Randle had as many turnovers (four) as made field goals in a shaky performance and Brunson missed 13 of 20 shots.
Neither player looked to have much burst, but both dismissed the notion that nagging ankle injuries limited them.
The duo’s performance came in stark contrast to the Heat’s big two of Butler and Bam Adebayo. Adebayo was by far the best big man on the floor, notching 17 points, 12 rebounds and a block. Max Strus added 19 points for the Heat.
“I thought defensively, we were solid, but I thought offensively we didn’t play the way we wanted to,” Thibodeau said. “And I don’t put it on any one player, because I think it’s done collectively.
“You have to create space first and then create rhythm. And everyone shares in that responsibility. That’s really what we have to do. And then you gotta make some shots, and we didn’t do that.”
The Heat came out sharp, scoring on their first two possessions. The Knicks’ first three times down the court produced an air-ball and two turnovers, a foreboding sign of the two-and-a-half hours to follow.
Thibodeau used two timeouts in the first 7:29, but the stoppages didn’t help.
The Heat led by 11 after the second timeout, and by as much as 18 early in the second quarter.
The result was never in doubt from that point on, the Knicks never getting closer than 11.
“They came out strong,” said RJ Barrett, who missed 11 of 16 shots. “That’s something that [coming] into the next game we’ve got to understand that and bring that intensity.”
