MIAMI _ James Johnson mentioned the possibility as soon as he heard that the New York Knicks would be sitting out Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose a game after being formally eliminated from playoff contention.
They would play loose and free, share the ball, not look to concentrate their offense on a specific player or players, he said.
He did not look at it as a night off.
It wasn't.
It turned out to be work, real work, painful work for the Miami Heat as they fell 98-94 Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, proving there are no gifts in the NBA.
"The three-ball didn't go in tonight and we didn't defend and it didn't end up being a good formula for us," coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Trailing at the end of each of the first three quarters and never ahead by more than one at any point, the Heat missed out on an opportunity to make a move in the Eastern Conference playoff standings.
"We were on our heels pretty much from that first timeout the rest of the way," Spoelstra said. "It was the pockets of mental mistakes that would lead to easy baskets, deflating baskets."
Instead, the Heat now stand only a half-game ahead of the Chicago Bulls for the eighth and final East playoff berth, with six games remaining in their season.
"This was not for a lack of wont or a lack of desire," Spoelstra said.
Goran Dragic led the Heat with 22 points, with Hassan Whiteside adding 17 points and 16 rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis led the Knicks with 22 points, with guard Courtney Lee adding 20 points.
The Heat closed 8 of 33 on 3-pointers.
"We had one of those nights when the three wasn't going down," Spoelstra said.
The game came down to the Heat in possession down two with 12.3 seconds to play.
That's when Dragic drove to the basket, saw his shot rim out, with the ball then touched while in the cylinder before dropping in.
The officials then went to video review with 6.6 seconds to play, with it ruled offensive goaltending on the Heat.
"I know the guys feels heavy minds about this right now, but we knew this for the last month: this would be one of the most difficult things we would have to do," Spoelstra said of this push for the playoffs and deflating moments such as replay ruling.
The Knicks then advanced the ball to midcourt, with Lee nearly dribbling out the balance of the clock, fouled with 2.6 seconds to play, draining both free throws to effectively end it.
After Heat guard Tyler Johnson failed to complete a 3-point play early in the fourth quarter, the Knicks pushed back with a 5-0 run for an 88-83 lead on a Sasha Vujacic 3-pointer with 7:37 to play, with the Heat committing a 24-second violation on their next possession.
But with Whiteside working his way to the line, they tied it 90-90 with 5:25 left.
Whiteside, though, then was called for his fourth foul with 4:45 left and the Heat down 92-90, with Dragic called for his fourth foul with 4:02 left with that same score.
A Dragic turnover then led to a Justin Holiday layup for a 94-90 Knicks lead, with a James Johnson miss setting up a Lee jumper and a 96-90 New York lead with 2:21 to play.
Tyler Johnson then worked his way to the line with 2:10 to play but only made his second free throw, leaving the Heat down 96-91.
The Heat then forced a turnover, but Tyler Johnson was off with a driving layup in transition, with the ball going out of bounds. The Knicks were awarded possession following video review with 1:49 left.
The Heat then forced a Porzingis turnover, with Rodney McGruder scoring in transition to bring the Heat within 96-93.
Following another defensive stop, the Heat got Tyler Johnson to the line with 33.3 seconds to play. Johnson again only made the second of his two free throws, leaving the Knicks up 96-94.
Another Heat defensive stand followed, as did another video review of a rebound that went out of bounds. This time the Heat took possession with 12.3 seconds to play, down two.
Both teams were shorthanded, with the Knicks a bit more by design.
The Heat were without guard Dion Waiters for a seventh consecutive game due to a severely sprained left ankle. Josh Richardson again started in place of Waiters, who walked through the locker room gingerly as a walking boot remained by his locker.
The Knicks, who were formally eliminated from play contention by Wednesday's loss to the Heat at Madison Square Garden, were without Rose due to knee soreness for the second consecutive game, this time with Anthony also held out, due to what the team listed as back pain.
The Knicks again started Ron Baker in place of Rose, with Lee moving up to small forward and Vujacic starting at shooting guard.
The Heat next play Sunday against the visiting Denver Nuggets, before a three-game trip against the Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards.
The Knicks ended the third period with the lead, just as they did the second and first, this time up 77-75 going into the fourth.
The Heat's only leads to that stage had been a pair of one-point edges in the second and third periods.
Dragic had 20 points through three quarters, as did Porzingis.
The Heat fell behind by eight in the second period before recovering to close within 59-55 at halftime, with Dragic up to 16 points by then. There was plenty of early long ball by the Heat, who stood 7 of 19 on 3-pointers at the intermission and then 8 of 26 through three quarters.
The Heat had nine first-half turnovers, including three by forward James Johnson over the opening two periods.
The Heat got off to a shaky start, with the Knicks busting to a 15-4 lead, dominating the glass at the outset.
The Heat eventually moved back within two, behind 11 points in the opening period by Dragic, before going into the second quarter down 33-29.
This marked third time the Heat had played the same opponent in consecutive games this season and the fourth time it has happened against the Knicks in the franchise's 29 seasons.
The last time the Heat played the Knicks in consecutive games was in February 1995. In the previous three consecutive matchups against New York, the Knicks have swept both games twice (1993 and '95), with the teams splitting the other matchup ('94).
The Heat entered having lost two of their previous three home games, falling to Portland and Toronto during the recent five-game homestand.
The Knicks entered on a seven-game road losing streak.
