Are more Jimmy Butler threes coming? ‘Jimmy can shoot.’ Also, Wade’s thoughts on the Heat
Jimmy Butler has excelled at a lot of things since he signed with the Miami Heat in the summer of 2019, but three-point shooting is not on that list.
Outside shooting has been a struggle for Butler in recent seasons. He shot 34.1 percent from beyond the arc in his first eight NBA seasons, but entered Wednesday’s showdown against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden shooting only 23.7 percent on two three-point attempts per game since joining the Heat.
Lately, though, Butler has been letting the threes fly and making a high percentage of his shots from long range. He hit a season-high three three-pointers in Monday’s home win over the Sacramento Kings, and has shot 6 of 12 (50 percent) from three-point range in the four games leading up to Wednesday’s contest in Boston.
“I know he hit three threes [Monday]. I love that,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Butler said: “Everybody is on my tail about it all the time to shoot more threes. Who knows, it might be coming soon. But they’re looking for me. Kyle [Lowry], [Tyler Herro] and hell even P.J. [Tucker]. I feel like as long as everybody is moving the ball, a lot of times I’m on the receiving end in the fact that I’m the one that’s open.”
How rare is it for Butler to make at least three three-pointers in a game? Monday marked just the fourth time he has done it in a Heat uniform.
So it’s no surprise that opponents have been willing to give up open three-point looks to Butler, who entered Wednesday shooting just 23 of 104 (22.1 percent) from three-point range this season. Among the 264 players who have attempted at least 100 threes this season, Butler ranked 263rd in three-point percentage ahead of only Orlando Magic rookie Jalen Suggs, who is shooting 21.6 percent from deep.
But if Butler is going to continue to take the open three-point looks defenses give him, there a few spots on the court that he’s more efficient from than others. He has made 20 three-pointers this season from either the right corner or above the break — 10 threes from each of those spots — and he’s just 3 of 22 on left corner threes.
‘I think he gets so caught up in having mismatches and being able to get to the basket whenever he wants. He just doesn’t [take many threes],” Tucker said. “I don’t know his reasoning, but I like to mess with him about it. But we do need him to shoot more threes. We need to get more threes up as a team.”
If Butler begins to make a few more outside looks, it could help create more space for the Heat’s offense. Defenders are consistently going under on screens when defending Butler and helping off of Butler when he’s spaced out to the three-point line.
“Jimmy can shoot,” Herro said. “People don’t think he can shoot. The numbers I don’t think explain how good of a shooter he is. But I think just taking those open threes make teams, one, respect him and then, two, just helps the spacing. Obviously, we know what he can do inside the three-point arc. But if he’s spaced for the three sometimes and it makes guys come out, I think that just opens up attacking lanes for me, Kyle and Bam [Adebayo].”
WADE’S THOUGHTS
When Dwyane Wade saw Butler and Spoelstra yelling at each other near the Heat’s bench during a timeout last week, he sent a message to Spoelstra soon after.
“Well, I texted Spo right after that and said, ‘It looks like you guys are gearing up for the playoffs,’” Wade said on Tuesday night as a TNT studio analyst.
Wade, who is widely considered the greatest player in Heat history, has been in a similar situation with Spoelstra. Wade and Spoelstra argued during a timeout in a Game 3 loss to the Indiana Pacers, and the Heat went on to win three straight to bounce back from a 2-1 hole to win that 2012 playoff series and eventually the NBA title.
“You can play the same video with me and Spo,” Wade said. “Spo ain’t come back at me like that. Spo and I had the same blowup. We ended up winning the next three games. I think we won a championship that year. So sometimes family have fights, they have disagreements, they have arguments in front of the world, because that’s what we’re playing in front of, right? And so, I looked at it like, ‘Oh, this is a Tuesday for the Miami Heat.’”
It was actually a Wednesday for the Heat, as Spoelstra and team captain Udonis Haslem verbally confronted Butler during a timeout during last Wednesday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors at FTX Arena.
But once the Heat gets to the playoffs, Wade isn’t sure what to expect.
“We know with the Miami Heat that they have the team that can compete to win a championship,” Wade said. “We don’t know, yet, if they have the players that’s gonna step up and lead them there. That is it.
“It’s not saying anything about the guys there. We just haven’t seen it. Is it going to be Jimmy? Would it be Bam? Are we waiting on Tyler Herro? We don’t know.”
▪ Haslem is again one of the 12 finalists for the Twyman Stokes Teammate of the Year Award this season. The honor goes to the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on and off court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.
And Adebayo was named one of the six finalists for this season’s NBA Sportsmanship Award, which honors the player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.
▪ Heat forward Caleb Martin will miss his second straight game on Wednesday because of a right calf contusion. Duncan Robinson (non-COVID illness) and Gabe Vincent (right big toe contusion), who were listed as questionable, are available to play against the Celtics.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 1:01 PM.
