Heat, Butler crushing opponents in second half
Jimmy Butler is on a scoring tear during the second half of games this postseason. And he and his teammates are shutting down opposing stars after intermission.
This second-half story line keeps happening for the Heat this postseason, and it would be easy to begin taking all of this for granted if you didn’t stop to think about how remarkable it is.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Heat’s playoff run — nine wins in 12 games and a 1 -0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals against Boston — are two dovetailing developments:
During the second half of games,
Jimmy Butler is not only playing at an All-NBA first-team level, but scoring in volumes that few have achieved in the postseason in a quarter century.
At the same time, the Heat is making the opponent’s top scorer — all multi-time All-Stars — look not merely mortal, but in many cases, dreadful, during the second half of games.
Butler — who produced 27 points, three blocks and three steals in the second half of Miami’s Game 1 win over Boston — has now played exactly 200 second-half minutes, through 11 games, in these playoffs.
He has 187 points in those 200 minutes, on 59.3 percent shooting from the field (67 of 113), with 42 rebounds, 34 assists, 13 steals and six blocks and just 10 turnovers.
All of those numbers are impressive, but the scoring numbers are historically great.
Per ESPN researcher Matt Williams, the only players to top Butler’s 17-point second-half scoring average in a single postseason (minimum 10 games) are Kevin Durant last year and Kobe Bryant in 2001, 2003 and 2008.
Only 24 of those 187 second-half points have come from behind the three-point line.
“I was 0 for 2 from three tonight,” Butler said after Game 1, while looking ahead to Thursday’s Game 2 (8:30 p.m., FTX Arena). “I want to go 0 for 0 next game because I just want to keep banging into people.”
Conversely, 44 of Butler’s 187 second-half points have come at the
free-throw line (in 53 attempts) — a byproduct of Butler’s polished moves in the midrange and the post, and his ability to draw contact on forays to the basket.
“I like physicality,” said Butler, who is averaging 29.8 points overall this postseason after averaging 21.4 in the regular season. “Like, I want to run into people and see who falls down first, who is going to quit first. That’s the style of basketball I like to play.”
Celtics center Daniel Theis said Wednesday: “We know he’s a big shotfake guy. We can’t bail him out and put him on the free throw line.”
Ask Butler if he’s getting a kick out of this scoring binge — with three 40point eruptions in 11 playoff games this spring — and he says: “Not really. I think I speak for my teammates and the Miami Heat organization whenever I say I know what I’m capable of.
“I don’t do this to score 40 points. I play the way that I play to win, by all means necessary, and it just so happened that I scored 40.
“But if I score 40 and lose, I’m going to be really pissed off.”
Here’s another number: During Butler’s 200 second-half minutes this postseason, Miami has outscored teams by 104 points.
“I’ve been a quote, unquote scorer at other points in my career, and it didn’t work out too well for me,” he said. “So I’m glad that I had the guys that I have around me.”
Why does the biggest stage seemingly bring the best out of him?
“Probably because I don’t care if it’s a big stage or a little stage or who is watching,” he said. “I do what I do for my family, for my people, for my organization and for my teammates. That’s it.”
On the defensive end, what Butler and several teammates are doing to opposing stars after halftime is every bit as impressive as Butler’s offensive feats.
Consider:
Hawks two-time AllStar guard Trae Young, who averaged 28.4 points per game this season, scored just 30 second-half points in 88 minutes over five games in the first round against the Heat (that’s 5.0 points per second half), while shooting 9 for 26 (34.6 percent) overall and 3 for 12 on threes (25 percent), with 14 assists and 18 turnovers.
The Hawks were outscored by nine points in those 88 minutes.
Philadelphia 76ers 10-time All-Star guard James Harden managed just 32 second-half points in 113 minutes (that’s 5.3 points per second half) against the Heat, while shooting 9 for 32 (28.1 percent) overall and 4 for 20 (25 percent) on threes, with 16 assists and 11 turnovers.
The Heat outscored the 76ers by 30 points in those 113 second-half minutes when Harden was on the floor.
MVP runner-up Joel Embiid, in three games against the Heat, scored 37 points in 72 minutes, on 12-for-26 shooting. That 12.3 second-half scoring average was well below his season per-half average, when he led the NBA in scoring at 30.6 per game. The Heat outscored the 76ers by 24 points in those 72 minutes.
After scoring 21 points in the first half, Boston three-time All Star Jayson Tatum — in Tuesday’s second half — had eight points on 1-of-7 shooting, one assist and six turnovers.
Boston was outscored by 22 in Tatum’s 21 second-half minutes.
“I had too many turnovers; I’ve got to play better in those situations,” Tatum said, sounding very much like Young and Harden did after the Heat defense flummoxed them.
“Just as a team, they’ve got guys that are really good defenders, play the passing lanes. We knew that coming in. They’re a really good defensive team.”
Butler, P.J. Tucker, Bam Adebayo, Gabe Vincent, Kyle Lowry, Max Strus and Victor Oladipo have been at the forefront of the Heat’s coverage on those players, with the Heat often sending second defenders — sometimes even a third — at those stars.
Add up the second-half numbers of Young, Harden and Tatum in 12 games against the Heat, and here’s what you get: 29 percent shooting (19 for 65), 31 assists and 35 turnovers.
In other words, what you would expect from a journeyman, not three players with a combined 15 All-Star appearances.