No. 8 put Heat a win away from the conference finals after Jimmy Butler picked up another win over the Knicks

Jimmy Butler and the Heat are one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals. (` Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The New York Knicks are about to head home.

Fueled by another strong night of shooting, the Miami Heat clinched a 109-101 win in Game 4 over the Knicks on Monday and took a 3-1 straight lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The No. 8, who edged out the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, is now one win away from the conference finals.

As usual, Jimmy Butler led the way alongside a starring role of Bam Adebayo.

Adebayo got off to a hot start with 9 points in the first quarter as Miami took a 32-31 lead. He had 16 at halftime as the Heat extended their lead to 56-48. An 11-point third quarter from Butler helped the Heat take a 90-81 lead into the final quarter.

There the heat turned cold with 1 of 9 starts from the field. But it didn’t matter. They gave themselves repeated second chances with 3 offensive rebounds throughout the stretch while holding New York without a field goal for the first 4:08 of the stanza. By then, the Heat was leading 95-84 and the Knicks never recovered. Julius Randle failed a charge with 3:08 remaining and all but closed the door to a rally in New York.

As they have done throughout the postseason, The Heat has repeatedly sought, found and hit open shots. A team that finished 27th in the league in the regular season at 3-point shooting with a 34.4% success rate entered Monday’s game, only behind the Boston Celtics for the second-best odds in to reach the playoffs with 39.2%.

They relied on their deep ball again on Monday in a high-volume effort that saw them hit 13 of 39 (33%) from the arc. It wasn’t their best performance, but they managed four more made 3-pointers than the Knicks (9 of 26). And they repeatedly refused to settle for controversial shots while they worked to find the open shooter.

When they missed, they attacked the glass and secured 13 offensive rebounds on their 45 misses. They shot 47.1% from the ground and attempted nine more field goals (85) than the Knicks (76).

New York countered with a 48.7 percent shooting performance from the field, led by Jalen Brunson with 32 points and 11 assists, despite a concerted heat effort to deny him the ball. But the Heat beat the Knicks by 12 points from long range and secured a 44-35 lead on the boards.

The story goes on

Butler led Miami with 27 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. He set the tone with a pull-up 3 for the game’s opening bucket. Adebayo added 23 points and 13 rebounds. Max Strus continued to thrive in his role as the starter with 16 points and 6 assists while shooting 4 of 10 from long range.

Lowry, who moved to the bench after suffering a late-season knee injury, set the tone for the second session with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 26 minutes. He shot 4 of 6 from the field and hit 2 of his 4 3-point attempts.

Randle added 20 points and 9 rebounds before retiring, while RJ Barrett had 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. The Knicks will be looking for big games from either in New York to avoid being eliminated in Game 5 on Wednesday.