Jimmy Butler sets calm and confident tone, as Heat takes 3-1 East finals lead to Boston
In case anybody needs a reminder that the Miami Heat is still in control of the Eastern Conference finals, Jimmy Butler made sure to provide one.
“The only thing I’m going to say is, ‘We’ll be OK,’” Butler said of his message to teammates following the Heat’s disappointing 116-99 home loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night in Game 4 of the East finals. “Let’s get back to doing what we’ve always done to get us to this point. Continually have belief in one another, knowing that we are going to win, and we will. We’ve just got to play harder.”
Butler’s calm and confident demeanor was evident as he spoke to the media following the defeat, as if to remind everybody that the eighth-seeded Heat still leads the East finals 3-1 over the second-seeded Celtics.
“There’s not too much to say with this group because we already know,” Butler continued. “So we’ve just got to go out there and execute.”
After going up 3-0 in the best-of-7 series, the Heat’s second of four opportunities to clinch a spot in the NBA Finals will come in Game 5 on Thursday in Boston (8:30 p.m., TNT).
No NBA team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-7 series and only three teams have come back from a 3-0 series deficit to force a Game 7. The last time a team down 3-0 in a series forced a Game 7 was in the 2003 playoffs, when the Portland Trail Blazers dropped the first three games of a first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks before forcing a Game 7 that the Mavericks won.
Is Butler worried that the Celtics now have the momentum after a double-digit Game 4 win in Miami?
“No,” Butler said when asked that question. “If anything, it will build momentum for us knowing that we have to play with a lot more energy. We’ve got to play like our backs are against the wall. But I think all year long, we’ve been better when we’ve had to do things the hard way.”
Despite Butler’s outward optimism, the Heat has real issues it needs to fix to close out the series.
After shooting just 29.2 percent from beyond the arc through the first three games of the East finals, the Celtics finally got hot and shot 18 of 45 (40 percent) from three-point range while the Heat shot just 8 of 32 (25 percent) from deep in Game 4. While Miami outscored Boston 132-93 from behind the three-point line in the first three games of the series, Boston outscored Miami 54-24 from beyond the arc in Game 4.
The Celtics generated 19 wide open threes in Game 4, which is defined by NBA tracking as when the closest defender is more than six feet away. The Celtics averaged 14.3 wide open threes per game in the first three games of the East finals.
The Celtics also scored 27 points off 16 Heat turnovers and outscored the Heat 18-10 in fast-break points on Tuesday.
“Just get back to what we were doing,” Heat forward Caleb Martin said of what needs to be better in Game 5. “Really the biggest thing is put this one behind us and understand that we’ve got another one. That’s the good thing about having to go to four, is we have another one and have the opportunity to go play them at their place.”
Heat All-Star center Bam Adebayo also believes he needs to be better after recording just 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, five rebounds and zero assists to four turnovers in Tuesday’s Game 4 loss. Adebayo averaged 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in the first three games of the East finals.
“I had four turnovers. I only shot the ball seven times. I missed two free throws back to back,” Adebayo said. “So for me, man, next game I’ve got to be better.”
Ideally, the Heat wouldn’t have needed to fly to Boston on Wednesday. The Heat could have earned eight days off before the June 1 start of the NBA Finals if it would have completed the sweep of the Celtics in Miami on Tuesday.
The Denver Nuggets already clinched a spot in the NBA Finals and are getting an extended stretch off after completing the 4-0 sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals on Monday.
“Sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “A lot of what we’ve done this year has been the hard way. We’ve been able to figure out ways to win, even if teams are playing well, if we are not in a perfect flow. “And they got us [in Game 4]. You have to give them credit for that. There’s no doubt about it. There’s no questioning it. We’re not wondering about that. They deserved to win tonight. We have to regroup and get ready for a great opportunity in Boston.”
An opportunity for the Heat to clinch its its seventh NBA Finals appearance in franchise history and sixth NBA Finals appearance in the last 13 seasons. The Heat also has an opportunity to become just the second No. 8 seed in league history to advance to the NBA Finals.
The Heat isn’t worried. Butler made that very clear during his postgame media session late Tuesday night.
“Stay consistent,” Butler said of his mentality following the Game 4 loss. “Do the same thing that I do, that we do, after every game. We are going to listen to some music. We’re going to drink some beers back there. We are going to go have some wine.
“I don’t think that you can just focus on basketball all the time. You have to be able to get away from the game a little bit. Think about it, but at the end of the day, you fall back on your habits, how consistent you’re going to be. Myself and my teammates, we’re going to do the same thing. We’re going to smile. We’re going to be in this thing together like we always are, and we are going to go get one on the road.”
This story was originally published May 24, 2023 at 11:25 AM.
