Knicks spoil RJ Barrett’s career 46-point night in disastrous loss to Heat

RJ Barrett scored a career-high 46 points, but the first game out of the All-Star break turned into Black Friday for the Knicks at the Garden. 

After Derrick Rose’s return was scrapped by another “procedure’’ to his right ankle, the Knicks lost to the Heat, 115-100, and to make matters worse, they lost rookie shooting guard Quentin Grimes to a subluxation of the patella, which is a partially dislocated kneecap. 

The new losses of Grimes and Rose and the loss on the court overshadowed Barrett’s career-high scoring night, while Julius Randle came back to Earth with a stinker. 

The Knicks dropped 10 games below .500 at 25-35. The totality of Black Friday means the Knicks’ chances of making a play-in push look to be over. 

It spoiled a 30-point first half from Barrett, whose career high was slightly marred by a 14-for-22 night from the free-throw line. Barrett went 13-for-22 from the field — 6-for-11 from 3-point range — as he took over the game. 

The worst-case scenario for Grimes, a pillar whose playing time figured to increase as this miserable season wore on, is that he could be out for the season. The timetable ranges from two to six weeks. His knee buckled when getting around a screen by Miami’s P.J. Tucker in the first half, and he had to be helped off by teammates and training staff. 

Things got so bleak late in the half, fans chanted “Let’s Go Heat’’ — a chant normally associated with Miami visiting the Nets’ Barclays Center home. The chant arose in the final seconds. 

Meanwhile, Randle, who had been hot entering the All-Star break, looked broken. He has a history of poor first games out of breaks. 

Randle made his first shot, then missed his next 12. He threw errant passes and heard boos. He finished with 11 points on 2-for-15 shooting, with four turnovers. 

On one odd play, Randle stole the ball, was fouled on his charge to the basket and apparently thought he was at the Slam Dunk Contest when he tried a wild, over-the-head slam that he flubbed embarrassingly. 

Barrett was on fire as Randle wilted. With the Knicks down two late in third quarter, Randle threw away a back pass that Tyler Herro gobbled up and drove in for a fast-break slam. 

Despite Barrett’s 30-point first half, the Heat led by 65-55 at halftime. With the fans chanting his name, Barrett buried a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half, but the Knicks still trailed by 10. 

The Knicks raced to a 10-0 lead before being outscored 48-28 in falling behind 48-38 in the second quarter. It got worse as Miami, behind Herro’s 3-point shooting, expanded the lead to as many as 15 points. Herro finished with 25 points and Jimmy Butler had 23. 

Randle made his first shot, then missed his next nine. During one sequence late in the first half, his oddly angled runner hit the side of the backboard. On the next possession, his crosscourt pass was intercepted. 

One of the low moments came when Obi Toppin inbounded the ball after a Heat basket and it got picked off. Miami worked the ball around before Herro nailed a 3-pointer. Miami shot 47.1 percent from 3-point range in the first half (8-for-17). 

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau switched gears and tried to play young at the center position, as he used rookie Jericho Sims as backup center over Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson.