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Jimmy Butler # 22 of the Miami Heat reacts during the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game Three of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on October 4, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images / AFP
Jimmy Butler insisted that even with two key players injured and two double-digit losses on the books, the Miami Heat have not finished in the NBA Finals.
On Sunday, he did so, delivering a 40-point triple-double in the Heat’s 115-104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers that cut the deficit in the best-of-seven championship series to two games to one.
“Phenomenal,” was the verdict of Lakers superstar LeBron James.
Butler’s teammates in Miami weren’t surprised.
“We know what Jimmy is like right now, and the world has seen what Jimmy Butler is capable of and he played tremendously for us,” said Miami rookie sensation Tyler Herro.
“He did everything, obviously. He ran the offense all the way through him, made play after play, cube after cube.
“And on the defensive, protecting LeBron, making it hard for him … we were all following him.”
But Butler insisted it was all a team effort.
“I think LeBron has brought out the best in me many times,” Butler said. “I respect the boy for that, but this is a different time now, a different group of guys that I have around me, and we are here to win. We are here to compete.
“We are not going to bed, we are going to fight this.”
The fifth-seeded Heat in the Eastern Conference have already surpassed expectations by reaching the title series, in which they have been limping since Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic suffered injuries in Game 1.
Butler, who doesn’t throw in the towel, said the effort was the key to bouncing back from two double-digit losses and achieving a string of successes.
“You have to empty the tank in every possession,” he said. “I have the easy job. These guys create so much space for me, I can shoot when I’m open, pass it when I’m not. I really have the easy job.
“But none of us, none of us will leave anything in the tank. We’re going to put everything down. “
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Sunday’s game that there was not yet a schedule for a possible return of Adebayo or Dragic.
In the meantime, Butler says he will carry the load he needs, for the sake of his teammates on the court, and for those left out with injury.
“I go out and go to war for those guys because when they’re there, they go to war with me and me,” he said.
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