MIAMI – Goran Dragic had it in Phoenix in 2010 when he helped the Suns advance to the Western Conference finals.

Jimmy Butler also experienced it on playoff teams early in his career with the Chicago Bulls.

So did Kelly Olynyk in Boston in 2017, and Meyers Leonard last season in Portland.

Much like those squads that each made deep playoff pushes, the Heat have achieved a level of lineup stability and consistency in their rotations not experienced since the Big 3 era.

Miami (21-8) ran out the starting five of Butler, Leonard, Duncan Robinson, Kendrick Nunn and Bam Adebayo for the 12th consecutive game and 23rd time in 29 games in Friday night’s 129-114 win over the Knicks.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has used just four starting lineups this season, needing to make only minor tweaks due to injuries to Butler and Justise Winslow.

Last season, Spoelstra used 29.

The past six seasons, Miami has used an average of 25 per season.

The Heat have used 20 or more starting lineups each season since 2012-13 – the season Miami won its third NBA title led by Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

The stability has helped, and Spoelstra has kept his rotations off the bench relatively stable despite a recent wave of injuries to Dragic and Winslow.

It’s shown in the Heat’s ability to share the ball and become one of the league’s best offensive teams.

The Heat rank fourth in the NBA in assist percentage (64.2) and eighth in assists per game (25.5).

The Heat ranked 17th in assists per game each of the past two seasons.

Miami ranks ninth (112.7) in points per game a season after finishing 26th in points (105.7) and offensive rating (106.7).

Miami is seventh in the NBA in offensive rating (110.7) and 11th in defensive rating (105.8).

“I’ve been on teams like that where you have different guys and different lineups every night, and you have no consistency,” Olynyk said. “It’s hard to build good habits and build a good team outside of the game and inside.”

Dragic was in his second season in the NBA with Phoenix in 2010 when those Suns reached the Western Conference finals relying primarily on a lineup of Steve Nash, Channing Frye, Grant Hill, Jason Richardson and Amar’e Stoudemire.

Those Suns used only eight starting lineups during the regular season and two in the playoffs.

Dragic saw what that kind of stability brought and that carried over to the second unit.

“We had one of the best benches in the league (that year), and that’s crucial because when the first wave comes in, they play well, they can make a margin of 5-10 points,” Dragic said. “That second unit needs to come in and upgrade that, and that’s how you get to a plus-20 (lead) by halftime. In the long run for the playoffs, it’s a unique situation, and everybody is feeling good about it.”

Olynyk saw what it did for the 2016-17 Celtics, who reached the conference finals by using only 14 starting lineups that season. That set up rotations off the bench that included Olynyk, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown.

Butler played a key role off the bench when the Bulls used 15 starting lineups during the 2012-13 season — the season they played without Derrick Rose (ACL injury) and reached the second round before losing to Miami’s Big 3.

Leonard came off the bench in 59 of his 61 games played last season for a Portland squad that made it to the West finals using only 12 different lineups all season.

For the Heat, the consistency also stretches beyond the starting group.

The Heat’s second unit began to take shape again Friday, when Dragic returned from a groin injury that kept him out the previous nine games.

With defined roles built off a stable starting lineup, Dragic seamlessly slipped back into the Heat’s first rotation off the bench and delivered 18 points, eight assists and only two turnovers.

As the primary ballhandler off the bench, Dragic was again part of Miami’s first wave of reinforcements, along with Tyler Herro.

The chemistry showed on perfectly placed alley-oop passes to Jones Jr. in the second quarter and Chris Silva in the fourth.

The Heat still don’t have Winslow, who missed his 10th consecutive game with a back injury, and have a bit of a quandary regarding what to do once he does return thanks to the emergence of Jones Jr. as a versatile defensive option.

A stable 8-9 man rotation that could expand to 10 once Winslow returns has been consistent enough to help Miami avoid a losing streak so far and go 15-2 against sub-.500 teams while splitting their 12 games against teams with winning records.

Miami’s chemistry was on display again Friday night, when Miami totaled 34 assists against the Knicks, and the Heat posted their best assist-turnover ratio (3.67) in a first half this season.

A team that until this month was ranked last among 30 NBA teams in turnover percentage is seeing those numbers improve.

The Heat entered Friday’s game with the sixth-fewest turnovers in the league in December. Miami is averaging 16.9 turnovers per game (29th), but 13.0 in December and 11.7 in its past six games. The Heat committed 11 of their 17 turnovers against the Knicks in the second half after building a 28-point lead.

“No one is talking about their minutes and what their role is,” Dragic said. “Everybody knows what the goal is. The last few years we needed that consistency. We were below .500 against non-playoff teams in the past. Now we’re taking care of business every night against those teams.

“It’s important to build your momentum, and it’s important because when you get to April the team is in its best shape.”

Miami has built a solid nucleus of starting rookies, such as Nunn and Robinson, who have contributed to that stability and have built chemistry with Butler, Leonard and an emerging superstar in Bam Adebayo.

But what if the Heat decide to trade one of those young pieces or a player on an expiring contract such as Dragic to acquire an established player such as Jrue Holiday, who could add to their scoring and defense in the hopes of elevating the team to a championship-contention level this season?

“It’s huge just to build trust and to build chemistry on both ends of the floor, to go through hard times together and good times together,” Olynyk said. “You learn how people react in certain situations, and that goes a long way. You need time to build that together.”

(Photo: Oscar Baldizon / NBAE via Getty Images)