Heat miffed they let chance at commanding lead over Knicks get away

The Heat came to the Garden and took a split from the Knicks.

But they’re galled at not having taken so much more.

The Eastern Conference semifinals is knotted at a game apiece going into Saturday’s Game 3 at Kaseya Center.

But the Heat are convinced they should’ve been heading back to South Florida with a daunting 2-0 series lead.

Bereft of Jimmy Butler, Miami pulled out a 2-3 zone that largely befuddled the Knicks.

They led 93-87 with 6:43 left in Game 2 before coughing up a 24-12 game-ending run, still kicking themselves at having let one get away from them.

Jalen Brunson had 10 of his game-high 30 in that blitz.

“It’s competition. It’s will. We have to figure out how to make enough plays at the end,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We have great respect for [Jalen] Brunson and their team in general. But he’s going to try to impose his will. Whether man or zone, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to make some plays, and he made some big ones down the stretch. Tip your hat off to him.

“We’re competitors. We’re going to come right back at it on Saturday when hopefully it’ll be a better result for us…But our guys live for these moments. We’re just [mad], obviously we feel a certain way right now that we were unable to find a way to get this win. But we’ll get over it and we’ll get ready for Saturday.”

Miami had three undrafted players in the starting lineup, and were still minutes from a 2-0 lead – a cushion that 93 percent of the 446 teams before have held onto.

“If you’re a basketball aficionado, you’ve got to love this series,” Spoelstra said. “You have great competition, guys going after it, leaving nothing to chance. Both teams probably could use an extra day just to gear up for the gladiator battle that’s about to ensue on Saturday.”

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With three days off, Butler will get time to rest his sprained right ankle.

But Miami didn’t practice Wednesday, and won’t have to officially list a status on an injury report until Friday.

“His body will let you know, me know, him know, the team know,” Spoelstra said. “It’s no way to predict it. But I’m glad we have a couple extra guys.”

Aging Kyle Lowry (37) and Kevin Love (34) weren’t as sharp Tuesday as they’d been in Game 1, and could also benefit from the extra rest.

So will Max Strus, who briefly got knocked out of Game 2 with a lower back contusion suffered while trying to take a charge.

“He took a charge that was not called as a charge; but those are all tough calls,” Spoelstra said. “He took a knee to wherever, but he was able to get back in there, stay warm and he was really good as well. And even putting his body in harm’s way several times that was just one of the car wreck collisions. But he has a couple days to get healthy in the sense.”