NEW YORK — The Miami Heat’s road dominance nearly ran into a roadblock Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Fortunately, the rest of R.J. Barrett’s teammate are New York Knicks.
So even with Barrett going for a career high 46 points, the Heat were able to extend the road winning streak to six with a 115-100 victory.
While scoring was all-or-nothing for the struggling Knicks, the Heat come out of the All-Star break with their typical balance.
This time there were 25 points from Tyler Herro, 23 from Jimmy Butler, 19 from Kyle Lowry, and a 16-point, 16-rebound double-double from Bam Adebayo.
So even with a 16-point lead nearly completely evaporating, the Heat were able to again move to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
It was the Heat’s ninth victory in the teams’ last 10 meetings.
Five Degrees of Heat from Friday’s game:
— 1. Closing time: Up 16 earlier and by 10 at halftime, the Heat went into the fourth ahead 90-85.
A 3-pointer and later a 3-point play by Caleb Martin as part of a 15-5 run then helped stake the Heat to a 101-90 lead with 7:34 to play.
The Knicks’ bid to rally was hampered by a sequence of four turns in 84 seconds midway through the fourth quarter.
Still, a driving Barrett basket with 3:12 to play got New York within 108-100. But Butler responded on one end with a 3-point play and then a steal on the Knicks’ next possession.
— 2. Oh, the irony: The Heat “won” a challenge with 7 minutes to play in the third period, with Butler’s foul on Barrett upon video replay instead ruled on a foul on Duncan Robinson.
So what would have been Butler’s fourth foul was changed to Robinson’s fourth foul.
Robinson remained in the game, at 0 for 5, all on 3-pointers, at that stage. He closed with those numbers, scoreless in his 14 minutes.
Butler played on to score 14 points in the third, going into the fourth with 20.
— 3. Herro ball: Herro was back after missing four of the previous five games with knee soreness and came out with eight first-quarter points while playing as sixth man.
Herro’s opening 11-minute stint proved to be a 14-point burst.
Herro’s night also included a steal and windmill transition dunk on a third-period sequence, going into the fourth with 17 points.
He closed 9 of 18 from the field, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
— 4. The Barrett Show: Questionable earlier in the day as he recovered from an ankle sprain, Barrett scored 30 of the Knicks’ 55 first-half points, including 17 in the second period.
Barrett shot 6 of 9 on 3-pointers over the opening two periods. The rest of the Knicks were 2 of 14 on 3-pointers in the first half.
At one point late in the second period, Barrett quieted a “Let’s go Heat!” chant with a 3-pointer that changed the chanting to ‘R-J-Bar-ret!”
Barrett joined Carl Braun as the only Knicks 21 and under to record a 40-point game.
He easily could have exceeded 50 had it not been for a 14-of-22 night from the line. He closed 13 of 22 from the field, including 6 of 11 on 3-pointers.
— 5. Roster move: With the 10-day contract of forward Haywood Highsmith expiring after Friday’s game, the Heat plan to re-up for a second such deal.
Highsmith actually wound up with the team for 11 days on his initial 10-day because of the All-Star break (such a contract allows for a minimum of three games).
Following the second 10-day contract, the Heat either must sign Highsmith for the balance of the season or release him.
The timing of the second 10-day deal affords the Heat the opportunity to then explore options on the buyout market, with such players elsewhere having to be waived by Tuesday to be eligible for another team’s playoff roster.
