MIAMI — If the Knicks can keep it close, they hold the advantage because of their point guard.

And that’s also true, most significantly, against the Celtics.

With Jalen Brunson performing biweekly renditions of Captain Clutch, the Knicks have transformed into the league’s top team in the most pressurized situations.

The NBA defines “clutch time” as the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points.

The Knicks are elite in that category, though not quite the best because of Cleveland.

But if you dive deeper into the pressure, New York is unmatched.

When the result is truly on the line — when there are two minutes or fewer remaining and the score is within two points — the Knicks win 80 percent of the time (12-3) while shooting a ridiculous 63 percent from the field and 56 percent on 3-pointers.

No other team is close.

The Celtics, for instance, are 8-9 in those games while shooting 41 percent from the field and 32 percent on 3s.

They remain the favorite to win the championship with the most complete starting five, but, if there’s a reason to criticize Boston during its five-year stretch of dominance, it’s melting in the clutch.

That wasn’t relevant last year as the Celtics steamrolled through the postseason, but we saw collapses against the Heat in 2023 and the Warriors in 2022 as the offense devolved into iso ball with Jayson Tatum chucking.

Friday night felt like a window into the Knicks’ best hope if they face Boston in the second round.

In Memphis, Brunson was again navigating winning time with the chill of a poolside mojito. He buried a go-ahead trey with 24 seconds left and fed OG Anunoby for the winner about five seconds before the buzzer.

It was the latest display of confidence from the Clutch Player of the Year frontrunner.

“We just know if we’re in a close game, he’s one of the few guys in the league where you just make sure it’s close, and then let him go to work,” Josh Hart said.

Simultaneously in Boston, the Celtics were collapsing after taking a 25-3 lead against Cavaliers.

They managed just 16 points in the fourth quarter of the 123-116 defeat, with Tatum scoring 46 overall but just six in the final period.

In a series between the Knicks and Celtics — which is the projected second round — Tatum is the best player.

But in the final two minutes of each game, Brunson is the top choice to carry the winner.

The clutch gene, as Brunson explained recently, was passed down from his mother, Sandra, who always kept the point guard focused on the most important picture while his father pushed toward basketball greatness.

The problem is the Knicks haven’t been close at all this season in the Boston matchups.

They’ve been blown out thrice, with the encouraging moments so sparse the Knicks players grasped at a brief and failed third-quarter comeback last week as hope they’re headed in the right direction against the division rival.

Brunson hasn’t had an opportunity to strap on the cape in crunch time. There won’t be another against the Celtics until April 8, and then, perhaps, in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Until then, the Knicks have plenty of time to get better by incorporating Mitchell Robinson. Coincidentally, their next game Sunday against the Heat is at the site of Brunson’s worst clutch moment in the NBA, when he committed a game-ending turnover in Miami that eliminated New York from the 2023 playoffs.

Virtually ever since, Brunson’s been Captain Clutch and now is the best reason to believe the Knicks could pull off glory against mighty Boston.