Heat beats Knicks to advance to Eastern Conference finals

A regular season filled with frustration has given way to a postseason of jubilation.

The Heat has made 10 trips to the Eastern Conference finals in their 35-year history, and none has been more improbable than the one that became a reality on Friday night.

The Heat’s 96-92 victory against the Knicks at Kaseya Center sent the Heat to the Eastern finals for the third time in four years.

The Heat won the series 4-2 and will play either the Celtics or 76ers in the Eastern Conference finals; those teams meet in a Game 7 on Sunday in Boston.

The Eastern finals will begin on Wednesday in Boston or Philadelphia, with games every other day until conclusion. All games will be at 8:30 p.m. on TNT.

“We don’t take any of this for granted,” Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s hard to win in this league, hard to win in the playoffs, and it’s really freaking hard to get to the Eastern Conference finals. You have great gratitude, because there are a lot of teams that would love to be in this position.”

Miami joined the 1999 Knicks as the only No. 8 seeds to advance to a conference finals.

“We’re one step closer to our goal,” Jimmy Butler said. “We’ve got eight more to get. I am so so proud of all of my guys for playing as hard as we did today.”

The Heat survived another brilliant night from Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, who scored 41 but committed a key turnover late.

Miami also survived a late scare after a Gabe Vincent flagrant foul that was called, on review, after his arm hit Brunson’s face when the two were jockeying for the ball with 59 seconds left. That gave New York possession.

Brunson hit both free throws and the Knicks then drew to within two on a Josh Hart basket.

Butler missed a jumper, but Brunson committed a turnover (a steal by Kyle Lowry) after Butler and Max Strus double-teamed him, and Butler hit two free throws to push Miami’s lead to 94-90 with 14 seconds remaining.

Quentin Grimes then air-balled a three, and Strus hit two free throws to push the lead to six and essentially settle matters.

Bam Adebayo was very, very good for the third time in four games, doing heavy lifting on both ends. He scored 17 of his 23 in the first half and helped turn the momentum with an 11-point second quarter, erasing a 14-point Knicks lead.

On the other end, Adebayo again did a great job contesting Julius Randle’s shots. Randle shot 3 for 14, including 1 for 7 on threes.

“He grabbed every single rebound, had some huge buckets down the stretch,” Butler said of Adebayo. “He’s always been our anchor on defense all season long. My goodness when he’s attacking and making shots, he looks unguardable.”

Adebayo - who had nine boards and two steals and a block - was big defensively and on the boards in the fourth, and shook free for a dunk, off a nifty pass from Vincent, to put the Heat up six with 1:05 left.

On New York’s next possession, Adebayo snagged a one-handed rebound off a Brunson miss, before that Vincent flagrant foul created some suspense in the final minute.

Butler was off with his shot (7 for 22), but still scored 24 and left his imprint with winning plays late, plus eight rebounds and four assists. He shot 10 for 11 from the line.

Grimes was again pesky defending Butler, and the Knicks often sent a second defender - sometimes even a third - to help.

Butler scored nine in the third and hit a key basket (and free throw) during a Heat push midway through the fourth.

And after Brunson’s three cut the Heat’s lead to 87-84, Butler hit a key jumper to push the lead to 89-84 with 2:48 left.

“It was clear he wasn’t physically like he was in the Milwaukee series,” Spoelstra said of Butler. “[He] played out of double teams in the second half and he was a facilitator. When he needed a bucket and free throws, we were able to do that down the stretch.”

There were again key contributions from Kyle Lowry (11 points, 9 assists, 3 steals) and Caleb Martin (8 points, 5 rebounds) and Max Strus (14 points).

The 6-1 Lowry maneuvered around 7-footer Mitchell Robinson and hit a twisting jumper to put the Heat up six with four minutes left. Lowry stripped RJ Barrett on a key defensive sequence with under three minutes left, leading to Strus free throws on the other end.

Meanwhile, Barrett (1 for 10) and Randle delivered offensive clunkers in Game 6. Randle had as many turnovers (three) as baskets.

“The biggest thing was making him take difficult shots,” Adebayo said of Randle. “We did a great job on Julius.”

The Heat shot just 40 percent from the field and 26 percent on threes (7 for 27), but Miami made 3 of 5 threes in a key fourth-quarter stretch.

Meanwhile, the Knicks shot 4 for 15 n the fourth quarter and closed at 38 percent from the field.

What’s more, the Heat outscored the Knicks 38-20 in the paint and took care of the ball. Miami went to the half with 15 assists and just two turnovers and finished with 25 assists and seven turnovers. Conversely, the Knicks had 13 assists and 12 turnovers.

The Heat free throw shooting, a strength all year, also was excellent; Miami finished 28 of 32 from the line.

The first half was a rollercoaster of runs.

A 16-3 Knicks spurt gave New York their biggest lead of the night at 31-17, with Brunson scoring 15 of those 31 and Barrett hitting all eight of his early free throws.

But the Heat closed the quarter on a 7-0 run, making the deficit a manageable 31-24 after a quarter.

Brunson ended that with a three to open the second quarter, but an Adebayo-fueled Heat run - this time, 10-0 - gave Miami its first lead since very early in the game, at 37-36.

And thanks in large part to Adebayo’s 11 second-quarter points, the Heat went to the break ahead 51-50 even with Butler missing seven of his 10 shot attempts in the first half and even with Brunson pouring in 22 and even with the Heat opening 2 for 12 on threes.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau tried to get Brunson his first rest in six quarters, but the Heat outscored the Knicks 8-0 when he was off the floor in the first half. Miles McBride got those minutes, while Brunson was resting, because Immanuel Quickley missed his third consecutive game with a sprained ankle.

During this series, Miami has outscored New York by 29 in 32 minutes with Brunson off the floor. Brunson played the entire second half.

The Knicks opened the third quarter shooting 1 for 9, and the Heat opened up a seven-point lead before going to the fourth ahead 74-71. Butler came alive in the third, scoring nine in the quarter. The Heat contested 12 Knicks shots in the third quarter, and the Knicks made only three of them.

The Heat began the fourth with a flood of fouls, sending the Knicks into the bonus just 2:59 into the fourth.

But Adebayo hit a jumper, Max Stus hit a three, and a three-point play from Butler put the Heat ahead 85-76 with 6:11 left.

The Knicks closed to within three but got no closer.

The Heat has now won 15 of its last 16 chances to close out a series on its home court.

Among active NBA franchises Miami also entered tied with Golden State for the best winning percentage (.667) in Game 6, with a 14-7 all-time record.

“There has been nothing easy about this season and that proved to be true in this close out game,” Spoelstra said. “That was an absolute grind.”