Heat dig deep, hold off Knicks 98-96 to sweep home-and-home

MIAMI – Jimmy Butler scored a game-high 26 points, and the Miami Heat beat New York 98-96 to finish off a sweep of a home-and-home series.

RJ Barrett had a chance to tie it on the game’s final play, but his layup bounced off the rim.

Miami has now won three straight games for the first time this season.

Kelly Olynyk scored 20 points for Miami, Bam Adebayo had 19 and Tyler Herro finished with 15 — including the 3-pointer with 1:04 left that put the Heat up for good.

Elfrid Payton led the Knicks with 18 points, and Derrick Rose — in his first game back with New York — had 14 off the bench.