Heat’s Butler delivers another all-time Finals effort to outduel LeBron, force Game 6
It was one of the great individual duels in the history of the NBA Finals.
On one end, LeBron James, playing for his fourth title, put together a 40-point performance in a closeout opportunity. On the other, Jimmy Butler, playing just to extend the series, managed his second triple-double in less than a week to try to keep the Miami Heat’s season alive.
The Heat’s season lives.
Butler, just five days after putting together a 40-point triple-double in Game 2 of the 2020 NBA Finals, scored 35 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out 11 assists, nabbed five steals and made one key block to outduel James, and will Miami to a 111-108 win in Game 5.
The Finals are going to a Game 6 after the Heat cut the Los Angeles’ Lakers’ series lead to 3-2 in Lake Buena Vista.
James had one of his all-time Finals performances, too, with 40 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, but Butler simply bested the superstar point forward in the final minutes after playing all but 48 seconds with his season on the line.
“He had a hell of a performance tonight,” Butler said, “but we’re still fighting. We’re in it to win it, we’re not backing down, we’re not scared of nobody.
“Like I always say, it’s win or win for us.”
Butler scored eight of Miami’s final 10 points to close out the Lakers, going punch for punch against one of the best players in NBA history to win an instant classic at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The lead changed hands seven times in the final 6:20, starting with a corner three-pointer by combo guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to give Los Angeles its first lead of the half at 97-96. Butler had started to fade — he didn’t score from the 6:41 mark of the third quarter until 1:51 remained in the game — and the Lakers flipped an 11-point deficit into a late lead.
Caldwell-Pope got another transition dunk to cap a 9-0 run before sharpshooting swingman Duncan Robinson found All-Star post player Bam Adebayo for an alley-oop to cut the lead to 99-98 with 4:09 remaining.
Butler’s scoring punch had left temporarily, but his all-around game hadn’t. He blocked James, then stole the ball from Lakers shooting guard Alex Caruso to end the possession. On the other end, he isolated against Los Angeles post player Markieff Morris and created an open three for Robinson to put the Heat back ahead 101-99. James tied the game with two free throws and it was 101-101 with two minutes to go.
Butler finally snapped his scoring drought with a pull-up jumper with 1:51 left, and James answered with an and-one to give the Lakers a 104-103 lead, but Butler had an answer again with a spinning fadeaway in the post and James had his own with a putback layup to keep Los Angeles ahead 106-105.
Once again, Butler had an answer. He crashed to the rim, drew a foul, then draped his body over a railing beyond the baseline to catch his breath. Coach Erik Spoelstra took a timeout to give him an extra breather and then Butler put the Heat ahead 107-106 with two free throws.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Spoelstra said. “That’s an image of a champion before you’re a champion.”
Los Angeles’ response finally came from someone else. James kicked out to Caldwell-Pope, who airballed a three and Davis was there to collect the rebound for a go-ahead layup with 21.8 seconds remaining.
With 16.8 seconds left, Butler saw daylight and slashed to the rim for another go-ahead attempt, drawing a foul from Davis and going back to the free-throw line, where he put the Heat back ahead 109-108.
Lakers wing Danny Green missed an open three on the other end and Los Angeles squandered a second-chance opportunity. Tyler Herro hit two free throws to ice the win and Miami’s season lives until at least Sunday.
It means another chance for guard Goran Dragic to potentially return from the torn plantar fascia in his left foot. It means a few extra days for Adebayo to keep recovering from his neck strain. For Butler, it means another chance to go toe to to against James on the league’s biggest stage.
He has already proved he belongs. Now he’s two more wins away from bringing the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy back to Miami.
“He’s the ultimate competitor and when you’re facing the ultimate competition that’s what happens,” Spoelstra said. “You hope that it brings out a higher level than you can go just by playing normal competition. You have to be a real competitor for that to happen, and hopefully that’s happening with our entire team right now because we’re being pushed and challenged by a very good team. Our guys are embracing that.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 11:44 PM.
