Heat’s thrilling Finals run crashes to an end with blowout Game 6 loss to LeBron, Lakers
The lasting image of the Miami Heat’s run to the 2020 NBA Finals will likely always be the moment Jimmy Butler, in the midst of a Game 5 triple-double, sought out a railing beneath the Los Angeles Lakers’ basket to drape his body across and catch his breath.
The All-Star played most of the series without Goran Dragic and with Bam Adebayo severely compromised by an injury, and almost single-handedly willed the Heat to Game 6 on Sunday by outdueling LeBron James on Friday.
The image will likely live forever on the walls of the Heat’s locker room at AmericanAirlines Arena, where iconic moments in franchise history are displayed as reminders of Miami’s storied history.
It was also, in retrospect, an indication of where the series was headed. The Heat ran out of gas Sunday and one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history came to an end with a 106-93 blowout loss in Lake Buena Vista.
In the decisive sixth game, the Lakers opened a 30-point lead in the first half. And Butler had his lowest scoring game of the NBA Finals, Adebayo had just five points at halftime and even the heroic return of Dragic, who tore the plantar fascia in his left foot in Game 1, couldn’t inspire the Heat.
On the other side, James had 28 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his first triple-double of the series, Anthony Davis scored 19 points, and Los Angeles point guards Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, hot-and-cold role players throughout the Finals, combined for 36.
Miami, which missed just 14 free throws in the first five games, missed seven in the first half alone. The Heat finished 35 of 79 from the field, 10 of 28 from three-point range and 13 of 22 from the free-throw line against one of the NBA’s top defenses.
In the second quarter alone, the Lakers scored 36 points. They scored 34 points in the paint in the first half, and outscored Miami, 14-0, both in transition and in second-chance opportunities in the half. Los Angeles went into halftime ahead 64-36 — the second largest halftime lead in Finals history — and the Heat never cut the lead closer than 21 in the second half.
Butler, who put together one of the most valiant — and, simply, best — Finals performances ever, finally faded in Game 6 after nearly averaging a triple-double while playing more than 42 minutes per game. Butler, who had a 40-point triple-double in Game 3 and a 35-point triple-double in Game 5 on Friday while playing all but 48 seconds, finished the 4-2 series loss with 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists Sunday. The wing finished his first trip to the Finals with averages of 26.2 points per game, 8.3 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 2.2 steals, and his 40-point triple-double was only the third in Finals history.
Until Sunday, he truly went blow for blow against James. In the first five games, James edged Butler in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and three-point percentage, and Butler edged James in assists, steals, blocks, minutes and free-throw percentage. Through five games, Butler’s average game score was 30.7, tied with Michael Jordan for the best five-game mark in Finals history.
James, who won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award for the fourth time, finished the series averaging 29.8 points per game, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists to win his fourth championship, his first since leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for California in 2018 and his second since leaving Miami for the Cavaliers in 2014.
It was an anticlimactic end to one of the most improbable, thrilling and franchise-defining seasons in Heat history.
The season began almost a full year ago, with expectations to return to the NBA playoffs after missing them entirely in 2019. Butler arrived as Miami’s most high-profile offseason acquisition since it landed James in 2010 and he was supposed to be the foundation for a new run of success in South Florida. He was the Heat’s only perennial All-Star, though, and he was joining a bizarre collection of role players, with up-and-coming stars in their teens and early 20s, blended with the remnants of the ultimately unsatisfying post-Big 3 teams.
Adebayo, Tyler Herro and point forward Justise Winslow were supposed to grow up with his leadership. Dragic and forwards Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Kelly Olynyk were the veterans who just needed one star to push them back into the upper third of the Eastern Conference. Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson and Derrick Jones Jr., all former undrafted players, were barely on any outsiders’ radars.
By the end of the season, Adebayo became an All-Star and Herro became a household name. Winslow, Waiters and Johnson are strewn across Western Conference rosters — and Waiters won a ring as a benchwarmer in Los Angeles. Nunn, Robinson and Jones all started games — and Robinson started every playoff game.
Miami’s two championships last decade were defined by the star power of James and Dwyane Wade. Its first run to the Finals since 2014 was made possible by savvy team-building, dogged gem-finding, rapid player development and, yes, mythical “Heat Culture.”
The culture of work ethic, fitness and squeezing every last ounce of ability out of players lured Butler to Florida and became more than a cliche this season.
Miami, with only one player selected in the top 10 of an NBA draft and three undrafted players in the expanded rotation, was just the No. 5 seed in the East and outlasted 20 other teams in the 2020 NBA Bubble to reach the final day of the season, more than a year after training camp began and exactly seven months after the COVID-19 pandemic halted the regular season in March.
A midseason trade for forwards Andre Iguodala and Jae Crowder, and the harsh reality of living for more than three months in Walt Disney World somehow galvanized the Heat. Miami’s offense and defense both improved in the 2020 NBA playoffs and the Heat lost just four games total in the first three rounds to return to the Finals last month.
Quickly, a dream postseason became a nightmare Finals. Dragic injured his foot in the first half of Game 1 and Adebayo strained his neck in the second half. Adebayo missed the next two games before returning for Game 4 on Tuesday, but he wasn’t anywhere near 100 percent. Dragic missed the next four games before he finally returned Sunday for the doomed Game 6.
Still, Butler pushed the series to six games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex by putting together two of the best Finals games ever. In Game 3, a 40-point triple-double carried Miami to a nine-point win. In Game 5, he forced a Game 6 by outplaying James to win a game with seven lead changes in the last three minutes.
The Heat made it within two wins of hoisting the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy for the the fourth time and it’s where the run ended. Sunday was a coronation for James against an underdog out of answers.
This story was originally published October 11, 2020 at 10:02 PM.
