Takeaways, reaction from Jimmy Butler’s all-time playoff performance to save Heat’s season
Five takeaways from the top-seeded Miami Heat’s 111-103 win over the second-seeded Boston Celtics on Friday night at TD Garden. The Eastern Conference finals is tied 3-3, with the series to be decided in Game 7 on Sunday in Miami:
Nearly 10 years to the day after LeBron James’ Game 6 masterpiece in Boston to save the Heat’s season in the 2012 East finals, Jimmy Butler turned in his own Game 6 for the ages in a very similar situation.
Butler was sensational, finishing with 47 points on 16-of-29 shooting from the field, 4-of-8 shooting on threes and 11-of-11 shooting from the foul line, nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals and one block in 46 minutes to keep the Heat’s season alive and force a Game 7. He was on the court for all but 2:03 of the season-saving win.
It marked the most points Butler has scored in a playoff game and the third-most points he has scored in any game during his NBA career. It’s also the seventh-most points scored by a player in an elimination game in NBA history, according to StatMuse, behind 56 points from Wilt Chamberlain, 53 points from Chamberlain, 51 points from Sleepy Floyd, 50 points from Jamal Murray and Chamberlain, 49 points from Hakeem Olajuwon and 48 points from Kevin Durant.
“It wasn’t a matter of schematics or things like that,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Jimmy just brought his competitive will tonight. It was a will that would not let us lose.”
The best playoff performance of Butler’s career came with the Heat facing elimination in a hostile environment, as he reached the 40-point mark for the fourth time in this year’s playoffs. He became the first Heat player in franchise history to turn in four 40-plus point performances in a single postseason.
Butler delivered in clutch moments, too.
Playing all but eight seconds in the second half, Butler scored 26 points in the final two quarters. He capped off the game with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting in a fourth quarter that included two lead changes and three ties.
When asked to describe Butler’s night, Heat point guard Kyle Lowry said: “[Expletive] incredible,” before catching himself and pleading for the NBA not to fine him for using obscene language.
Making Butler’s night even more impressive was the fact that he had not looked like himself after sitting out the second half of Game 3 because of inflammation in his right knee. He totaled just 19 points on 7-of-32 (21.9 percent) shooting from the field in losses in Games 4 and 5.
Maybe the most telling stat was that Butler drew enough fouls to take only six free throws in those two games. This came after he generated 18 free throws in Game 1 of the series and averaged 8.7 free throws per game in the playoffs before this recent stretch.
But Butler surpassed his point total from Games 4 and 5 with a 21-point first half on Friday. He also shot a perfect 11 of 11 from the foul line in the Game 6 win.
Between Games 5 and 6, Butler said there was a lot of “rest, ice, massage, all of that good stuff” to get him ready for Friday.
Butler has arguably been the NBA’s best player this postseason. He’s averaging 26.9 points while shooting 50.3 percent from the field, 7.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.1 steals in this year’s playoffs.
The only players in NBA history to average at least 26 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals while shooting better than 50 percent from the field during a playoff run are Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, James and Kawhi Leonard. Butler is on pace to join that impressive list.
Butler revealed that he received encouragement from retired Heat great Dwyane Wade through a phone call on Friday morning hours before Game 6.
“D-Wade never hits me until his voice is really, really needed. And it was,” Butler said. “I texted him and told him I appreciate him for it. Just to let me go out there, continue to build on that legacy and make sure that we win.”
Friday’s brilliant display from Butler brought back memories of James’ dominant Game 6 against the Celtics in the 2012 East finals as a member of the Heat.
James recorded 45 points on 19-of-26 shooting from the field, 15 rebounds and five assists in 45 minutes that night in Boston to force a Game 7 that the Heat ended up winning in Miami.
The Heat will now work to recreate that Game 7 win at FTX Arena on Sunday.
Led by the resurgence of Lowry and Max Strus, the Heat’s three-point shooting was much better. That, too, made a big difference.
After shooting a dismal 7 of 45 on threes in Wednesday’s loss, the Heat turned in one of its best three-point shooting performances of the postseason.
The Heat shot 15 of 35 (42.9 percent) from three-point range in Game 6. It’s the second-most threes Miami has made in a game and just the third time it has shot better than 40 percent from deep this postseason
This shooting performance was needed, as the Heat entered Friday’s elimination game shooting just 31.2 percent from three-point range in this year’s playoffs. That’s an uncharacteristically low number for Miami, which shot an NBA-best 37.9 percent on threes in the regular season.
“We knew we needed to make some shots,” Lowry said. “That’s a great defensive team. Give them credit for how they’ve been guarding us and forcing us into things that we don’t want to do. But we played with some oomph tonight and it felt good to do it.”
The Heat has been able to overcome its outside shooting struggles for most of the postseason because of elite defensive play and Butler’s dominance. But Miami needed every one of its threes on Friday.
The Heat improved to 31-2 when shooting better than 40 percent on threes this season.
Strus and Lowry helped get the Heat there.
Strus finished with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 shooting on threes. He shot 0 of 11 from deep in Games 4 and 5.
Lowry also looked fresher than he has in previous games this series. Lowry, who is playing through a strained left hamstring, finished Game 6 with 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 shooting on threes, four rebounds and 10 assists.
Lowry shot 3 of 15 from three-point range in Games 3, 4 and 5. Friday’s performance also marked the most points and assists Lowry had recorded in a game this postseason.
“His energy,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of what was different about Lowry in Game 6. “You can tell his energy was the will to win through a hamstring injury. His will to win, you could see it in his face. You could see it in his demeanor and aura. Everybody wanted this win.”
The Celtics’ incredible free-throw edge keeps growing, but the Heat was able to overcome it because of Butler’s brilliance and 11 offensive rebounds.
The Celtics finished with more free throws than the Heat in Games 2, 3, 4 and 5, and that trend continued for a fifth straight game on Friday.
The Celtics took six more free throws than the Heat in Game 6 to finish with a 28-24 advantage in points at the foul line. The Heat didn’t attempt its first free throw on Friday until there was 6:49 left in the first half.
The Celtics now hold an enormous 177-123 edge in free-throw attempts in the series that has resulted in a 145-103 advantage over the Heat in points at the foul line.
The Heat committed the fifth-most fouls per 100 possessions in the regular season and the Celtics committed the seventh-fewest, so it’s not too surprising that Boston has been able to turn this into a strength this series.
But the free-throw advantage is bigger than anybody could have realistically imagined.
Despite its recent struggles, Spoelstra stuck with the same Heat starting lineup. The group was better in Game 6.
When health has allowed, the Heat has consistently used the starting lineup of Lowry, Strus, Butler, P.J. Tucker and Adebayo. That was again the group that began the game for Miami on Friday.
There were some questions following losses in Games 4 and 5 whether a change to the starting lineup was needed. That group was outscored by 39 points in 26 minutes in those two defeats.
How bad was it?
The Heat’s starting lineup combined for just 18 points on 7-of-36 (19.4 percent) shooting from the field and 1-of-10 (10 percent) shooting on threes in Game 4. It marked the fewest points by a starting five in a playoff game since starters were first tracked in the 1970-71 season, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
But Spoelstra didn’t overreact to the two-game sample, understanding that this starting lineup had produced positive results for most of the last two months. This group had actually outscored teams by 54 points in 106 minutes together since it became the Heat’s starting lineup in late March before this recent two-game stretch.
Spoelstra made the right call.
The starters bounced back in Game 6 to give the Heat early momentum, opening the night on a 12-7 run in the first 5:31 before Spoelstra turned to the bench.
The Heat outscored the Celtics by six points in the 14 minutes that lineup played together on Friday.
Game 7 is next for the Heat and Celtics, with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.
The Heat entered Game 6 as big nine-point underdogs and pulled off the upset to force a Game 7 in Miami on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. (ESPN).
“You have to go through tough things on a playoff run when you’re trying to accomplish something special,” Spoelstra said. “And I think this group deserved a Game 7.”
It will mark the 11th Game 7 that the Heat has played in franchise history, with the last one coming in the second round of the 2016 playoffs against the Raptors in Toronto.
The Heat holds a 6-4 all-time record in Game 7s, including 6-2 at home.
On the line for the Heat? The franchise’s seventh appearance in the NBA Finals and the second in the last three seasons.
The winner of Sunday’s Game 7 between the Heat and Celtics will face the Golden State Warriors in the championship series. The NBA Finals open on Thursday at Chase Center in San Francisco at 9 p.m. (ABC).
This story was originally published May 28, 2022 at 1:25 AM.
