NEW YORK — As the game progressed Tuesday and the Miami Heat kept sticking around, kept drilling 3s, kept forcing misses, it became all the more surreal. How were the Heat, who were without Jimmy Butler, without Tyler Herro and seemingly without much of a chance coming into Game 2, still doing it?

Their leading scorer, Caleb Martin, went undrafted. So did Gabe Vincent, out of UC Santa Barbara of all places. Max Strus drilled the Knicks for 17 points and started his college career at Lewis University. Ever heard of it? Even Kevin Love had been cast out of the Cavaliers’ rotation just a few months ago.

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And yet, the Heat hung around, not only still in it but also still leading with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Madison Square Garden crowd, so vibrant and loud, was also so full of anxiety.

But there are limits to even the most resilient teams. Overcoming the odds means, axiomatically, that they are not in one’s favor. The Heat, despite a chameleon-like changeover from Game 1 and the absence of Butler, could not outplay the loss of their star or the Knicks in Game 2 and lost 111-105. New York tied the series at 1-1 after the return of Julius Randle from an ankle injury; he scored 25 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had eight assists. The Knicks also got 30 points from Jalen Brunson, but the Heat were ultimately undone by the Knicks’ role players. Josh Hart nearly had a triple-double (14 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists), and Isaiah Hartenstein slugged the Heat with his energy and rebounding to catalyze the fourth-quarter comeback.

Fought 'til the end.

Series tied. See you Saturday in Miami, #HEATNation 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VZBpJwz5cf

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 3, 2023

It was hard to call it a moral victory for the Heat — those don’t exist in the NBA playoffs — but it was an indication of why they have gotten this far despite being the No. 8 seed in the East. With Butler out, they changed their shape. Missing their leading scorer and playmaker, the Heat leaned into the math, putting up 3s with vigor, and went heavier on a zone defense against the Knicks. It nearly worked.

“Without Jimmy, that’s what we do,” Strus said. “We play fast, shoot 3s and take any shot that’s available. We wanted to win the game. That was our plan, to win the game. It wasn’t like we were taking the night off. And, unfortunately, we came up short.”

While there was hope Butler might play, Miami declared 90 minutes before the game that he would miss it because of his sprained right ankle — though the team knew hours earlier. In his absence, the Heat leaned on the 3-ball. They took 49, tied for the third most by any team this postseason, and made 17.

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The Heat kept the Knicks chasing, forcing raggedy rotations and mucking up their defensive game plan. Without the center of their offense, they leaned into ball movement and actions that caused the Knicks trouble.

Vincent took 12 3s and had 21 points. Martin, who had a team-high 22 points, took eight, and so did Love. They kept firing from the perimeter, all trying to make up for the loss of Butler.

They kept the Knicks shooting, too. New York took 40 3s, and the Heat tried to force the Knicks to take more, all in an attempt to keep them out of driving lanes and the paint. Vincent thought the zone defense — not a surprise since it has been a calling card for the Heat — “rattled them a little bit.” The game was slow-moving — a half-court affair, as the teams combined for just five fast-break points (all New York’s).

The goal, Bam Adebayo said, was to make the Knicks stagnant on offense and keep them to the perimeter.

This Kyle to Bam lob 🤌 pic.twitter.com/U71yFe6jLr

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) May 3, 2023

“It definitely put them more in a — not really driving, trying to get to the rim, but shooting 3s,” Adebayo said. “They’re a downhill team. They got three guys that want to get downhill and get to the rim. That’s how they get going. For us, we just got to do a better job of keeping them out of the paint.”

But the inflection point came midway through the fourth. With the Heat up 93-87, Adebayo fouled trying to get through a Hartenstein pick, sending him to the line as Brunson also hit a 3 with 6:42 left. That cut the lead to two, and the Knicks tied on their next possession.

Adebayo put that play and the loss on himself. He had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists, adopting a playmaking role from the center of the team’s offense, but that foul, he said, was the backbreaker. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra highlighted it as the play that swung the game in the Knicks’ direction, too.

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Adebayo was regretful because he had erred after hearing Spoelstra warn throughout the season to avoid back screens. Instead, he tried to run through one.

“I feel like this game was on me and I lost it for us,” he said. “I gotta be better. I played terrible. So, yeah, I put this one on me.”

That play was not the cause of the loss, though it might have precipitated it. New York sanded down Miami with its rebounding and physicality. The Knicks outrebounded the Heat by nine in the fourth quarter alone and had four offensive boards. Hartenstein had two with roughly five minutes to go. Down 104-100 with a little over a minute remaining, they let Hartenstein grab the rebound off his missed corner 3, then try a layup. He missed that, too, but Randle cleaned it up and went to the line as he got fouled, stretching the lead to six with 1:02 left.

Strus rued the shot-clock violation with 3:06 left and the Heat down six. Martin lofted a shot to try to beat the buzzer, but it missed badly. Vincent grabbed the rebound and had a layup for a putback, which would have cut the Knicks’ advantage to just one point.

But the referees ruled Martin’s shot did not hit the rim; television replays made it seem as though the ball barely grazed the cylinder. Vincent lobbied a referee on the court but to no avail. Brunson hit a runner 18 seconds later, and the Knicks had breathing room.

“Everybody knew it hit the rim, yeah,” Strus said. “You can see it from our bench. It definitely hit the rim. But you win some, you lose some, I guess.”

Now the Heat return to South Beach with a tied series and, ostensibly, home-court advantage. Butler might return, too. Though he gestured toward Knicks fans behind Miami’s bench as the seconds ran out and he left the court, he stayed mum afterward, declining to talk to the media for the third straight day since he was injured. He walked away from the Heat locker room after the game without a noticeable limp, and he’ll have nearly six days of recovery before Game 3.

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In Game 2, however, the Heat showed they are not just a one-man operation. They created havoc against the Knicks defense, leaving it spinning at times, trying to recover against a fast and feisty crew. It was a plucky performance but not quite enough.

It might have been a missed opportunity, even under the circumstances. The Heat could have taken a firm grip of the Eastern Conference semifinal. In Miami, they’ll try to take hold of it again.

(Photo of Caleb Martin: Mary Altaffer / Associated Press)