On verge of playoff history, Jimmy Butler explains why he’s not surprised by Heat’s success
The Miami Heat is on the verge of postseason history.
With a 3-0 lead in its second-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks, the fifth-seeded Heat can become the first No. 5 seed in NBA history to sweep the No. 1 seed with a victory in Game 4 on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. (ABC). Miami is already the first No. 5 seed to hold a a 3-0 playoff series lead over a No. 1 seed in league history.
“I’m not surprised,” Heat All-Star and leading man Jimmy Butler said after scoring 30 points in Friday’s Game 3 comeback win. “I think everybody else in the world might be. But not us here. Not if you wear a Heat jersey, if you’re one of these coaches, if you’re part of this organization — you’ve been seeing what we’ve been doing all year long. That doesn’t surprise us.”
The Heat entered its series against the Bucks as a popular underdog pick, but there weren’t many (if anybody) who predicted a potential sweep. Miami is the only undefeated team remaining in the 2020 playoffs with a perfect 7-0 record, which includes a first-round sweep of the Indiana Pacers.
The Heat entered the resumption of the season with the 10th-best odds to win the NBA title at 33-to-1, according to BetOnline. Miami now owns the third-best odds to win the championship at 5-to-1 following Friday’s Game 3 win, according to OddsChecker, with only the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers holding better title odds entering Saturday.
Just one win separates the Heat from its first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals since the final season of the Big 3 era in 2014. Miami would become just the second No. 5 seed to advance to the conference finals since 2000, with the only other coming in the 2013 playoffs when the fifth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies were swept by the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
“Nobody believed in us,” the Heat’s other All-Star Bam Adebayo said. “Everybody thought we were gonna be in the bottom of the East or a 7th or 8th seed, and nobody thought we would make it this far. Everybody in our locker room believes in each other, believes in one another and believes in all the preparation we’ve had up to this point. And now we’re just proving people wrong.”
Milwaukee, which finished the regular season with the NBA’s top record at 56-17, has dropped five of its six games against Miami this season. No other Eastern Conference team defeated the Bucks more than once this season.
“They’re a great team,” said Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is questionable for Sunday’s game with a sprained right ankle. “You know they’re going to play hard. They play hard for 48 minutes. We need to be able to match that. You can’t play hard for 36 minutes. You can’t play hard for 24 minutes. You got to play hard for 48 minutes to beat a team like that. We knew that coming into this series and they’ve played harder than us.”
What has been the Heat’s winning formula in the playoffs?
A balanced and efficient offensive attack that Butler can take control of at any point and elite defense, especially in the fourth quarter.
Miami, which finished the regular season with the seventh-most efficient offense, has posted the third-best offensive rating in the playoffs. The Heat also owns the sixth-best team shooting percentage (46.1 percent) and fourth-best three-point percentage (38.7 percent) in the postseason.
Six Heat players are averaging double-digit points in the playoffs, with Butler averaging a team-high 23.1 points on 47.8 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting on threes. Veteran guard Goran Dragic is averaging 22.3 points on 48 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent shooting on threes, and Adebayo is averaging 15.3 points, 12.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists.
“We have dogs in our locker room, starting with Jimmy, Goran who’s proven, Bam is a young superstar,” Heat center Meyers Leonard said. “... I said it in our prep, ‘Look, we are a nightmare matchup for them.’ And I believe that. I know that. We have the best player in this series [Butler]. We have winners in this locker room.”
Miami has also posted the fourth-best defensive rating in the playoffs, allowing 105.4 points per 100 possessions. That’s a big improvement from the regular season, when the Heat allowed 109.3 points per 100 possessions for the 12th-best defensive rating in the NBA.
While Miami’s defense has been very good throughout the postseason, it has been elite in the fourth quarter. The Heat has limited opponents to 21.9 points on 36.5 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent shooting on threes while allowing just 93.3 points per 100 possessions in fourth quarters during the playoffs.
“They believe in what I believe in,” Butler said of his Heat teammates. “And that’s telling the truth, being honest, working hard every single day, that we can beat anybody, we can compete with anybody. We don’t ever play to lose, ever. We will not do that here. It’s not the Heat way.”
What’s it like for Butler to watch more people learn about his Heat teammates during this playoff run?
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really pay attention,” answered Butler, who forced a sign-and-trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to Miami as a free agent last offseason. “I don’t pay attention. I don’t be on social media like that. I don’t read what anybody writes on the internet. Because, nobody believed in us, nobody. And we like it that way. So I don’t pay attention to the rest of the country. I don’t pay attention to what the talk shows say. I pay attention to what we do every single day. What my teammates think, what my teammates are saying. That’s it.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra was asked if there was a moment in Game 3 that symbolized Heat culture the most. At first he dismissed the question before offering a glimpse at what makes the Heat different than most teams.
“We are who we are,” Spoelstra said. “Some years, we’re a punch line. Some years, people say it’s the wrong culture. But who cares? We’re not making apologies for it. Our culture is probably [Udonis Haslem] screaming at everybody in one of the timeouts and us liking it.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2020 at 12:06 PM.
