MIAMI — The Knicks needed their clutch hero, but he was in street clothes.
With Jalen Brunson missing his second straight game because of a sprained ankle, the Knicks couldn’t convert the big bucket in Monday’s 115-113 loss to the Heat — with Miles McBride and Karl-Anthony Towns combining to miss four potential game-tying buckets in the final 20 seconds.
The end of the game turned confusing as McBride, with the Knicks trailing by two points, launched an ill-advised jumper that missed badly.
Towns picked up the rebound and attempted a putback that was rejected by Heat center Kel’el Ware.
Initially, the refs ruled it goaltending on Ware and the score tied with 13.2 seconds remaining.
Karl-Anthony Towns drives to the basket during the Knicks’ loss to the Heat on Nov. 17. AP
But a review reversed the goaltending, and the Knicks got the ball back after a jump ball for two more chances in the final moments — resulting in another miss by McBride, then another missed fadeaway by Towns after the rebound.
Game over.
“Two of the three [refs] called goaltending. I was under the assumption it was goaltending,” said Towns, who verbally sparred with the refs all evening. “When I saw them go to the table, I saw [official] Ray [Acosta] tell them it’s goaltending, so I thought it was just looking at a clock situation, where the clock should stop, whatever the case may be.
“We were also under the impression, we got the rebound, so we had possession, so both ways we should be getting the ball back. When we heard it wasn’t goaltending or it was possession, it was a jump ball, we were kind of confused. At the end of the day though we still found a way to win the tip, got a good look. I thought I shot a good one. I thought it was good.”
But it missed.
Not long before, the Knicks, who were up by 5 in the fourth quarter, lost control by going over 3 ½ minutes without scoring a point.
As a result, they trailed by 10 with about three minutes left but battled back behind Towns (22 points, 15 rebounds) and McBride (25 points).
The duo were strong until failing when it really mattered.
The Knicks were missing two of their best players to injuries, Brunson and OG Anunoby, prompting Mike Brown to go small with McBride and Landry Shamet starting in the backcourt.
It was the first DNP for Anunoby, who strained his hamstring in Friday’s victory over the Heat.
The forward is out at least two weeks — but probably longer — and didn’t travel with the Knicks for their three-game road trip, which continues Wednesday in Dallas before Saturday’s finale in Orlando.
Brunson, who sprained his ankle in garbage time of last week’s loss to the Magic, is much closer to returning and warmed up without hindrance pregame Monday on the Kaseya Center court.
“It’s always nice to have a guy like that,” Brown said of his point guard.
Without Brunson, the Knicks offense was less impressive while shooting just 25 percent from beyond the arc.
Mikal Bridges, who finished with 23 points but none in the fourth quarter, said the Knicks have to figure out life without their top scorer.
“Not too many people in the league can do what Jalen does so you can’t really just mimic what he does by subbing somebody else in,” Bridges said. “But I think just playing within our game. Jalen is a great iso player, and not many guys can score like him. So that’s a part of his game. Other guys got their games where it might be a little different. I think we just plug in new guys and do what you do. Play to your strengths.”
Miles McBride attempts a shot during the Knicks’ Nov. 17 loss to the Heat. NBAE via Getty Images
The Heat were also understaffed without Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.
But they got double-digit scoring from seven players, including Norm Powell’s team-high 19.
It was a rematch from Friday’s game at MSG, and a much different story.
In the first matchup — a 140-132 Knicks victory — the Knicks offense was humming behind exquisite shooting from Towns and Shamet.
The Knicks scored 78 in the first half.
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Three days later, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra adjusted by throwing smaller defenders at Towns — often frustrating the big man — while Shamet came back down to earth while scoring just 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field.
The Knicks are also a different team on the road, where they’re 0-4 compared to 7-1 at MSG.
“I don’t think we’re gonna go 0-41 on the road. At some point it’ll bounce in our favor,” said Josh Hart, who scored 14 points with nine assists off the bench. “We’ve just got to make sure we’re fully locked in whenever we’re on the road. We’ve gotta make sure we’re communicating at high level, that we know the scout, know personnel and we know how to execute.”
On Monday night, the Knicks executed enough to put themselves in positions to win.
But they couldn’t get the clutch bucket without Captain Clutch.