Dwyane Wade was back. So was Micky Arison. No one wants to miss out on the action when the Knicks come to town.

The Heat defeated its Eastern Conference rival 99-89 on Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. It was the Heat’s first game this season against the struggling Knicks, who have only won once in their past nine games. LeBron James led the Heat (14-5) with 31 points. He was at his best in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points while also effectively helping to contain the Knicks’ barrage of three-point attempts.

“That’s a good way to have a Friday night in Miami,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

The Knicks (7-12) didn’t have Carmelo Anthony. They barely had Amare Stoudemire. In their places were three-point prayers. The Knicks attempted more three-pointers (43) than any other opponent in Heat franchise history. The Knicks lost their shooting touch somewhere during the fourth quarter and couldn’t keep pace with the Heat.

Spoelstra called it a three-point “party.” The Heat was content to pound the Knicks inside. James and Wade combined for 10 dunks, their most together since James joined the Heat last season.

Wade announced his return from injury in the first half when he bounded past Landry Fields with his familiar “Euro-step” for a breakaway dunk. James said it was his favorite dunk of the night.

“I’ve seen that play before, but I didn’t expect it [Friday night] in his first game back,” James said.

There were other showstoppers as well. Especially a pair of alley-oop dunks by James that sent the soldout crowd at AmericanAirlines Arena into a frenzy. The first was from Wade in the first quarter, a no-look lob that James grabbed out of mid-air with one hand.

The second breathtaking alley-oop came from rookie point guard Norris Cole in the second quarter. Cole initiated a fast break with a steal, then tossed a no-look pass over his head to an oncoming James. James dunked the ball to give the Heat a 44-39 lead.

Wade’s return was like a shot of adrenaline for the Heat, which went 5-1 without Wade but was running low on energy.

“This team has been playing well, but I saw in that Detroit game [Wednesday], we won that game because of our talent and because of our plays at the end, but it wasn’t a lot of energy in that game,” Wade said. “So I wanted to come and bring something a little different.”

Even Arison, the Heat’s owner, wanted to be on hand for Wade’s return. Also the owner of Carnival Cruises, Arison had missed each Heat home game since the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster off the coast of Italy. Costa Cruises is owned by Carnival. Arison declined an interview in his first public appearance since the Concordia’s capsizing.

Bill Walker led the Knicks with 21 points off the bench. He was 7 of 10 from three-point range. The Knicks shot 41.9 percent (18 of 43) from behind the arc. Inside the three-point line, the Knicks were 12 of 41. In other words, without Anthony there to anchor the offense, the Knicks were content to hoist three-pointers and hope for the best.

The Heat outscored the Knicks 41-14 in the paint.

For a while, enough three-pointers dropped to keep the Knicks within striking distance. The Knicks were 10 of 23 from three-point range in the first half and trailed by only four points at halftime. Then Walker made three consecutive three-pointers to begin the second half, and the Knicks suddenly led 62-58.

It didn’t last. The Heat regained the lead by the end of the third quarter and led the entire final period.

Wade had 28 points in his return from a sprained ankle. He was 11 of 19 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. James was 11 of 18 from the field and made 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.

Stoudemire, who drew a double-team for most of the game, was held to 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

After averaging more than 25 points in the games without Wade, Chris Bosh managed just 13 points on 4-of-18 shooting.

James put the Heat ahead 86-79 with a pair of free throws and moments later lobbed an alley-oop pass to Wade, increasing the lead to nine points with 4:41 to play. Wade turned in his defensive play of the game seconds later when he skied above Tony Douglas for a well-timed block.

James scored the Heat’s next three points, giving Miami a 91-79 lead with 3:17 to play.

But the Knicks weren’t done. Fields answered with a dunk and then drained a three-pointer to cut the Heat’s lead to 91-84.

James pulled down an important offensive rebound over Tyson Chandler with two minutes to go and then made a pair of free throws, increasing the Heat’s lead to nine points again.

“In the fourth quarter we were really able to clamp down defensively,” Spoelstra said.