MIAMI — It’s different for all five. Completely.
Round 1 between the Knicks and Heat tips off, this afternoon and after a few whistles, the Knicks will begin to deploy their bench. They probably will summon five reserves during course of the game, and for each, it will be a huge change from what he experienced during last year’s postseason.
Sharpshooting Steve Novak has been in the playoffs twice, with Houston in 2008 and San Antonio last year, but barely played. He’s now invaluable for the Knicks. Swingman Landry Fields was a starter for the Knicks in last year’s playoffs against Boston. He’s now a reserve.
Point guard Mike Bibby has switched sides, going from the Heat to the Knicks. Forward Jared Jeffries was viewed with disdain last year for his missed Game 2 layup. Now he’s a popular and important Knicks piece.
And sixth man J.R. Smith will be making his Knicks playoff debut after appearing in the last five postseasons with the Nuggets.
All five are being relied on.
“[The Heat] have a great starting five. As do we, of course. But I think our bench is key in this series more than any other series,” Smith said. “Because our first five, they really equal out each other. We need us to come in and keep the energy up, keep pushing the ball, get stops and rebounds so we can get where we need to be.”
The Knicks’ biggest edge in this series might be their bench, but part of that is dependent on how Novak and Smith shoot. Miami’s bench features two shooters as well — Mike Miller and Shane Battier — as well as big men Joel Anthony and former Knick Ronny Turiaf.
Both Smith and Novak fared well against the Heat this season. Smith averaged 15.0 ppg and shot 43 percent from 3-point range, while Novak averaged 8.0 ppg and nailed 50.0 percent from deep. All of that is promising.
“We need to [close out on the shooters] better,” Heat star Dwyane Wade said. “At times we have done it great. At times we haven’t. Yes, that’s a big emphasis in this series.”
Novak’s played in four career playoff games with the Rockets and Spurs, logging just 27 total minutes. This season he averaged a career-high 18.9 minutes, emerging as a key figure.
“It’s definitely tough to say [whose bench is better],” Novak said. “But I think that we know for us to win, we have to have good bench play. I think that’s how it’s been for us all year.”
Additional reporting by Fred Kerber
mark.hale@nypost.com