Butler playoff run ends with late burst, but poor shooting night. His thoughts afterward
Jimmy Butler began these playoffs looking like an all-time great.
He ended it seemingly running on fumes, even with a late 13-point flurry that nearly rescued the Heat in Game 5.
Miami ultimately succumbed 94-89 on Monday, giving the Nuggets the first championship in franchise history.
Butler spearheaded this improbable Heat run, but his efficiency — extraordinary early in this postseason — ultimately deserted him too often against Denver.
Butler — who fell short of winning his first NBA title — closed Game 5 with 21 points on 5-for-18 shooting from the field and 9 for 11 from the line, with five assists, three rebounds and three steals.
After missing eight of his first 10 shots in Game 5, Butler sparked a Heat comeback with a personal 13-point run.
But he committed a killer turnover with 27 seconds left with the Heat down one, then took an ill-advised turnaround missed three over Aaron Gordon with Denver up three and 17 seconds left.
“You don’t need a three! That’s just not the shot,” ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy said, saying the Heat should have driven for a two to cut the lead to one.
Butler didn’t discuss those two plays specifically. But asked what stood out about the final minute, he said: “That I turned the ball over. That’s what stood out.”
Butler went to the fourth with just eight points on 2-for-10 shooting.
When he returned to start the fourth, he missed two shots — including a jumper that rimmed out — but usually opted to pass, and his teammates usually missed. He was off on an open three in the corner at the five-minute mark and the Heat down five.
But then Butler captured his first-round magic for a brilliant three-minute stretch, hitting consecutive threes to spark his 13-point burst.
Denver challenged the call when Butler drew a foul on a three-point attempt with 3:21 left and Miami down four. The call was upheld, even though Butler extended his leg and kicked Aaron Gordon. The ABC announcers insisted that Butler should have been called for a foul.
Butler’s 10 foot jumper with 2:47 left put the Heat up one. And then he put the Heat up by one again after sinking two free throws with 1:58 left. Those were his final points of the game.
Bruce Brown’s basket put the Nuggets back ahead for good with 1:31 left, and Butler couldn’t seize on two key moments in the final minute.
On the first, with the Heat trailing 90-89, Butler drove around Jamal Murray, but Murray recovered and Nikola Jokic was there as a second defender.
Instead of attempting a jumper over the Nuggets’ two best players, Butler instead opted to pass, but it was a poor one intercepted by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 27 seconds left.
After two ensuing free throws from Caldwell-Pope and a Heat timeout with 24 seconds left, Butler missed a difficult 27-foot turnaround three-pointer with the Heat down three and 17 seconds left.
Two Brown free throws put the Nuggets up five with 14 seconds to go.
“We just didn’t win,” Butler said. “There’s no excuse. They beat us.”
There were two Butlers in these playoffs: an extraordinary one for the first five weeks of postseason but then an uneven one who seemed tired at times and without the same explosiveness and lift.
Butler was brilliant in a Game 7 Eastern Conference finals win in Boston, with 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
But he was never at his best during these NBA Finals.
In Miami’s 11-3 start to the playoffs, Butler averaged 29.9 points on 51.5 percent shooting. He entered Game 5 averaging 22.8 points on 41.6 percent shooting in the 2-6 eight-game stretch since.
Butler shot 38 for 92 in this series (41.3 percent), and his jumper seemed to lack lift during parts of these Finals. On Monday, he saw several shots rim out.
Was the erratic efficiency the byproduct of an ankle injury against the Knicks?
Butler said that had “zero” to do with his performance and “my ankle is fine.”
So was it exhaustion? The Denver defense?
Butler declined to specifically address that last week.
ABC’s Mark Jackson said if the ankle was the problem, it shouldn’t be an excuse, because other players have overcome that.
“It’s time for Jimmy Butler to play better basketball,” Jackson said in the fourth quarter, before Butler began that personal 13-point run.
On the plus side, he had 32 assists compared with six turnovers in the Finals.
But Miami was outscored by 37 points when Butler was on the floor in this series, including by three in Denver’s five-point close out win.
Afterward, Butler expressed gratitude for his teammates.
“I’ve had helluva teammates come through here and compete with me and give us an opportunity to win a championship — which I still believe, with everything in me, that we will do as a team here, as an organization, as a city of Miami.
“The four years have been great. It’s always great to be loved and appreciated. I don’t think it’s going to change. I’m grateful we made it here. We came up short.”
Asked if the team needs to add offensive help this offseason, Butler said: “No. We just missed shots. That’s what this league is about. We make two, three more shots.. We did enough to win.
“We guard well, we’re still in position to win. You don’t have to score 100 points to win a game. We’ll be OK. That’s coach Pat [Riley]’s and coach Spo’s job to put together another team, which I’m confident they will do.”
This shouldn’t be overlooked: The Butler era in Miami has been a success. He has led the Heat to two NBA Finals, and on the cusp of another Finals, in four years.
Butler, who will turn 34 on Sept. 14, will make $45.2 million, $48.8 million and $52.4 million during the next three seasons. The final year is a player option.
This story was originally published June 13, 2023 at 12:22 AM.
