Barrett nets career-best 46 but Heat roll past Knicks

NEW YORK (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 25 points, Jimmy Butler had 23 and the Miami Heat overcame RJ Barrett’s career-high 46 points to beat the New York Knicks 115-100 on Friday night.

Kyle Lowry added 19 points in the Heat’s first game after the All-Star break after they were tied with Chicago for the best record in the Eastern Conference going into it. Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

Miami started a little slowly in the resumption of its schedule, then shut down most of the Knicks beyond Barrett to run its road winning streak to a season-high six games.

Barrett made six 3-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds in his return from a four-game absence with a sprained left ankle, and his best game as a pro would have been even better if not for 14-for-22 shooting from the free throw line. Julius Randle had 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, but shot just 2 for 15.

The Knicks dropped their fourth straight and fell to 25-35. They hoped they were close to getting Derrick Rose back from ankle surgery, only to instead announce he had another procedure on the ankle Friday.

The Knicks jumped to a 10-0 lead while the Heat missed their first six shots, but Herro’s 3-pointer cut it to 32-30 after one quarter. Miami turned a two-point deficit into a 48-38 lead with a 12-0 burst, went up by as much as 16 and settled for a 65-55 halftime lead after Barrett scored 17 in the second.

The Knicks were within one with 40 seconds left in the third, but Lowry made four free throws to make it 90-85 heading to the fourth. Miami then opened the quarter by outscoring the Knicks 11-5, with Herro getting two baskets, to go up by double digits again at 101-90.

New York came out of the break 12th in the East and potentially a