Forty minutes before Thursday night’s playoff game between the Knicks and the Miami Heat, Chris Bosh’s No. 1 Heat jersey hung in an otherwise empty locker inside the visiting locker room at Madison Square Garden. Bosh’s absence was understandable. About 16 hours earlier, his wife, Adrienne, had given birth in Miami to the couple’s first child, a son, Jackson.

But at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, with the opening tip-off of Game 3 in the Knicks-Heat playoff series half an hour away, Bosh walked into the Heat locker room, where he was greeted by cheering teammates.

A little after 7 p.m., Bosh was introduced to the Garden crowd. They booed. Bosh smiled. A little less than three hours later, with the help of Bosh’s 9 points and 10 rebounds, the Heat were easy victors, sending the Knicks to the edge of playoff elimination with an 87-70 rout. Leaving the court, Bosh had completed an exhilarating and emotional odyssey.

“The day is kind of a blur,” he said afterward. “Not too long ago I was sitting in Miami with my wife and kid. I got up to say goodbye and my wife said, ‘We’ll see you on TV soon.’ ”