Butler, Heat stay alive
Jimmy Butler, shown bottling up LeBron James, recorded a tripledouble to keep Miami’s title hopes alive, forcing a Game 6 with the Lakers with a narrow victory Friday night.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jimmy Butler was slumped over a video board behind the baseline in the final seconds, exhausted, gasping for air. He gave it all. The Miami Heat needed nothing less.
The NBA Finals — and Miami’s title chances — are not over, not after Butler and the Heat pulled off a virtuoso performance in Game 5 on Friday night. Butler had 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, and the Heat held off Los Angeles 111108 to cut the Lakers’ lead in the title series to 32.
“That’s Jimmy Butler,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said. “That’s our max player and that’s who we go to in these moments.”
With good reason. He didn’t let them down, not even on a night where LeBron James — seeking a fourth title and the player with the best closeoutgame record in NBA history — was masterful.
James had 40 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers. But on the possession that decided everything Friday night, the Heat forced the ball out of James’ hands by basically sending three defenders at him as he drove down the right side of the lane, the Heat up by one, the Lakers only needing one basket for a lead and possibly the title.
He found Danny Green alone atop the key; Green’s shot was well short and the Heat closed it out with a pair of free throws.
“It was a little bit of luck that Danny Green missed that shot at the top of the key,” Butler said. Game 6 is Sunday night. “We got a hell of a look to win the game, to win the series,” James said. “It didn’t go down.”
Duncan Robinson had 26 points for Miami, which used seven players. Kendrick Nunn had 14 points, Bam Adebayo 13, Tyler Herro 12 and Jae Crowder 11. The seventh player, Andre Iguodala, didn’t score.
Anthony Davis — playing through a bruised heel — scored 28 points, and Kentavious CaldwellPope had 16 for the Lakers.
Robinson’s 3pointer with 3: 13 left put Miami up by two, and started a stretch where the next nine scoring possessions from either side resulted in a tie or a lead change.
Butler got fouled with 46.7 seconds left, then slumped over the baseline video boards, clearly exhausted. He made both foul shots for a onepoint lead; Davis’ putback with 21.8 seconds left got the Lakers back on top.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra used his last timeout after Davis’ goahead score, just to buy Butler a couple minutes of rest. Butler drove the lane, drew contact and made both foul shots with 16.8 seconds left for a 109108 lead.
“Every young player coming into this league should study footage on Jimmy Butler, the definition of a twoway player competing on both ends, five steals, and then making those big plays down the stretch for us offensively,” Spoelstra said.