MIAMI — Playoff Jimmy was back playing. And winning.
Jimmy Butler made his return from a sprained right ankle a triumphant one, lifting Miami to a 105-86 second-round Game 3 victory over the Knicks.
The sellout crowd of 19,927 at Kaseya Center roared when he was announced with the starters, then Butler announced his return in typical Playoff Jimmy style.
Butler beat an array of double-teams for a game-high 28 points, four rebounds, two blocked shots, and one outsized influence on Saturday’s game.
“You can’t put an analytic to it, just the overall confidence level your team has that you can always get the ball to him and know we’ll get something efficient and coherent,” Erik Spoelstra said.
And even after tweaking the same ankle in the third quarter, a limping Butler gutted his way through the pain and guided the Heat to a 2-1 series lead.
“It reminds me of another player that I played with for several years, so it’s an amazing thing to watch,” Kevin Love said in an allusion to LeBron James. “He leads us, he sets the tone for us every single night.”
Butler set the tone in first five-plus minutes, with eight points in a 17-9 run to start the game that electrified the Miami crowd.
“It feels good,” Butler said. “I was definitely out of rhythm though, I’m not going to lie to you. I shot a lot of shots [like] aargh. I missed a lot of shots.”
If that was Butler out of rhythm, the Knicks won’t want to see him in sync.
Butler had suffered the sprained ankle with five minutes left in Game 1, and missed Game 2.
But after initially being listed as questionable, Butler was cleared an hour before tipoff Saturday.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks vs. Heat NBA playoff series
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- 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
“I feel all right. A lot of recovery and making sure that I can move went into it for sure,” said Butler, who even had a double-clutch dunk after the whistle. “That’s for everybody that thinks I’m not athletic. I just choose not to dunk … because it takes too much energy. But I shall get back to my two-handed flushes.”
Right out of the gate, Butler set the tone.
He scored Miami’s first basket on an 8-foot turnaround fadeaway.
He hit another fadeaway to give Miami a seven-point lead, and his block of RJ Barrett led to a Bam Adebayo basket and 17-8 edge with 5:52 in the first quarter.
That lead eventually reached 22.
In the third quarter, Butler slipped on the floor while driving and appeared to tweak that right ankle. He remained in the game, albeit with a visible limp, but still kept beating the Knicks double-teams.
“Yeah. Great player; gonna make plays,” Tom Thibodeau said. “You gotta make him work for it.”
Butler thoroughly outplayed Barrett, holding him to 14 points on 5 of 16 shooting.
“We always said we can win games when we defend and not make shots, and this is one of those games,” said Butler. “It feels good to get a dub on our home floor in front of our crowd, and we’re going to take that and roll with it.”