Mourning, the Miami Heat's lone consistent threat on offense all day, managed to put the ball through the net often, using baseline jumpers, slick inside moves and even a spinning, half-hook while being fouled.

He was harassed by New York's Patrick Ewing, Marcus Camby and Kurt Thomas and still topped all players Sunday with 27 points and 14 rebounds.

But late in Game 5 of Miami's annual playoff wrestling match against the Knicks, Mourning missed three in a row of what should be the easiest shots in basketball -- free throws -- and the Knicks held on for a 91-83 victory, tying the best-of-7 series at 2-2.

"I have got to make plays. I have got to put the ball in the hole," Mourning said. "I missed three free throws down the stretch. That is very unacceptable, just got to put it in the hole."

Mourning took a long breather at the start of the fourth quarter, but when he returned from the bench with 7:34 left he immediately was beaten on the boards twice at the defensive end. After a miss by Allan Houston, Thomas kept the ball alive and his errant shot was tipped in by Camby to put New York up 78-70.

Then, after missing one of two foul shots with 5:13 to play and the score 80-72, Zo's woes from the line became even more critical.

While New York went more than two minutes without a basket, Miami pulled within 84-79 and Mourning was fouled on consecutive trips down the court.

But he went 1-for-2 with 3:39 left and missed two more foul shots with 2:28 left. The second foul shot barely grazed the front of the rim.

It was a reprise of the foul-shooting problems Mourning and Miami experienced in a Game-2 loss at home, when he missed six of 13 and the Heat went 19-for-33 overall. That prompted Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy to jokingly praise his players' free-throw defense.

Mourning also offset his own scoring with nine turnovers, including a pair of 3-second violations.

"Nine turnovers is not acceptable at all, especially when you are trying to win a playoff series against a tough-minded defensive team," Mourning said.

His was part of a generally sloppy performance by the Heat, whose 19 turnovers led to 28 points for New York.

Miami's Alonzo Mourning tries to work his way to the basket against the Knicks' Charlie Ward in Game 4.(AP)

"We just gave them gifts constantly," Mourning said. "We pretty much gave them the game with our careless mistakes. I take full responsibility for that."

Despite a slew of accolades in his seven-year NBA career, including All-Star team selections, defensive player of the year honors, and finishing second a year ago in the league MVP voting, Mourning has yet to lead his team to the NBA Finals.

A major reason for that has been the Knicks, who have eliminated the Heat from the playoffs each of the past two seasons, and Mourning is a bit weary of that pattern.

"Here we go again, win one game, lose one game," he said. "Why can't we get to a level of consistency? Why does it always, you know, come down to a dogfight game with these guys? Why can't we just pull away?"