A look at Jimmy Butler’s historic Finals, and how the Heat adjusted to the Lakers’ adjustment
Jimmy Butler keeps saying the Miami Heat has to play close to a perfect game to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.
So far, Butler is playing the most perfect basketball of his NBA career in the championship series.
Butler continued his spectacular play Friday with his second triple-double in the last three games to help the Heat survive a 40-point performance from Lakers superstar LeBron James. Butler finished Game 5 with 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 12-of-12 shooting from the foul line, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals to lead the Heat to a 111-108 season-saving win over the Lakers.
Butler played a season-high 47:12 of the 48 minutes Friday in the must-win situation, narrowing the Lakers’ series lead to 3-2. Game 6 is Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on ABC, as the Heat hopes to become just the second team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 hole in the Finals to win the title.
“Nothing,” an exhausted Butler said of what he had left following Friday’s performance. “I left it all out there on the floor along with my guys, and that’s how we’re going to have to play from here on out. Like I always say, it’s win or win for us. But this is the position that we’re in. We like it this way. We got two more in a row to get.”
Win or lose, Butler is having a Finals for the ages.
Butler’s first triple-double of the series came in the Heat’s Game 3 win, when he finished with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists to become just the third player in NBA history to record a 40-point triple double in the Finals. Jerry West and James are the other names on that list.
In addition, Butler is just the sixth player in NBA history to generate multiple triple-double in a single Finals series. Also on that list is: Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Draymond Green, Magic Johnson and James.
Butler has scored 30 or more points as part of a triple-double performance twice in his NBA career, and both have come in this year’s championship series.
Butler, 31, has averaged 29 points on 55.8 percent shooting, 8.6 rebounds, 10.2 assists and 2.6 steals in his first Finals appearance. At this pace, Butler would join Michael Jordan as the only two players in NBA history to average at least 27 points on 55 percent shooting or better, seven rebounds, 10 assists and two steals in the Finals.
“That’s Jimmy Butler,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “That’s our max player, that’s who we go to in these moments and he has been producing. So we just got to keep contributing the best way we can and just let him take over the show.”
Butler has saved the best basketball of his career for the perfect time. The Heat is playing in the Finals with a less-than-100-percent Adebayo (neck strain) and a sidelined Goran Dragic (torn plantar fascia in left foot), who was the Heat’s leading scorer this postseason entering the championship series.
The Lakers made the adjustment to use Anthony Davis (6-foot-10) as Butler’s primary defender and have defenders continuously dip under on screens to dare Butler to take outside shots. It worked in Game 4, as Butler shot 1 of 5 in the 27 possessions that Davis guarded him, and Butler finished 2 of 6 on non-paint shots.
But the Heat then adjusted to that Lakers’ adjustment, with Butler using more off-ball actions (like playing as the roll man) to get his touches Friday. After only one of his eight made shots was assisted in Game 4, four of his 11 made shots came on assists in Game 5.
Butler was also more willing to take the outside shots Los Angeles was conceding Friday. He finished 6 of 10 on non-paint shots — 5 of 7 on midrange looks and 1 of 3 on threes.
The result? Butler scored 15 points on efficient 6-of-10 shooting in the 32 possessions that Davis was his primary defender in Game 5.
Butler also drew a playoff-high 12 fouls to shoot 12 free throws Friday.
“Just stay aggressive,” Butler said of his Game 5 offensive approach. “I don’t know what they’re going to throw at me on any given night. But I think whatever you throw at me, it’s not going to work because if I’m open I’m going to shoot it. If I’m not, I’m going to pass it to Duncan [Robinson] or Tyler [Herro] or [Kendrick Nunn] or Bam or Jae [Crowder] and they’re going to make the shot. So as long as we stay together and play basketball the right way, no matter how they guard me, I’m going to make the right play.”
On top of carrying the Heat’s offense throughout Friday’s win, he also defended James for most of the night. Of the 51 offensive possessions James was on the court for in Game 5, Butler was his primary defender for 31 of them.
“His will to win is remarkable,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler. “To do that in 47-plus minutes and take the challenge on the other end, this is — every young player coming into this league should study footage on Jimmy Butler, the definition of a two-way player competing on both end, five steals, and then making those big plays down the stretch for us offensively.”
Butler has played 214 of the 240 minutes in the Finals. James has played the second-most minutes in the series at 195.
The question is: Can Butler continue to produce at an all-time great level with this heavy workload? Not even Butler knows that answer, but he planned to make the most of Saturday’s recovery day
“I’m going to go back and talk to [Heat assistant athletic trainer Armando Rivas] and whatever he says to do, I guess I got to do,” Butler said. “I really hate when people tell me what to do, by the way, but I know that he has my best interests at heart.”
After Butler drove to the basket and drew a foul with 46.7 seconds remaining in Game 5, he stood slumped over a railing to collect himself as he played the entire second half. That image of an exhausted Butler has gone viral.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Spoelstra said. “That’s an image of a champion before you’re a champion.”
Butler then walked to the foul line and made both free throws to give the Heat a one-point lead that turned into a win. Miami is two wins away from an NBA championship.
“We are here for a purpose,” Spoelstra said. “Jimmy was remarkable, exceptional tonight, just from a competitive standpoint. I really mean that. The draft is coming up in a month, they should study Jimmy Butler as a two-way player.
“But we can’t celebrate this too long, we got to move on and rest up and get ready for another one. This just inches us closer to our goal. That’s it.”
