Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. The NBA Finals is here!
Jimmy Butler did EVERYTHING to make sure the Heat stay alive in this series.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Miami Heat.)
I had mentioned the previous two games that I don’t feel confident about the Miami Heat winning a game in this series, let alone win the NBA championship. Well, someone proved us wrong. Again. And he’s been doing this all of his career.
Jimmy Butler had a great game in Game 2 and it just didn’t feel enough. This time, he did the spectacular. He had to. Right now, it might have been the only way to upset the mighty Lakers. There’s no Goran Dragic. There’s no Bam Adebayo. So Butler took it into his own hands.
40 points. 11 rebounds. 13 assists. He willed the team as he kept going to the line. He went 12 for 14 from the line. But he also went a fiery 14 for 20 from the field. And he didn’t need to attempt a three-pointer to do all this damage. Butler worked tirelessly to get to the paint. He got to his spots in the midrange. And Jimmy Butler would not be denied.
The Heat came out gangbusters like they did on Game 1. They led by 13 in the first quarter. But of course, the Lakers were going to make that run. We expect it out of a team led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Miami withstood the Lakers run and rang out 11 straight points of their own. And then they got Davis in foul trouble, which would cause the dude with the brow a bit passive for the rest of the game.
The Heat went up by 14 in the third. But once again, the Lakers scored 8 straight. The Lakers got some big threes from Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris. L.A. took the lead back with a Rajon Rondo lay-up, 91-89.
But as I’ve said many times, the Heat are so good when they’re hanging around. They scored 8 unanswered back, including back-to-back threes from Kelly Olynyk and Tyler Herro. Then Butler kept attacking the rim and got himself to the line for 6 free throws. A short bank shot would give Butler his 40 points. A quick strike from Herro, which also drew a foul from Rondo (and I guess, a snarl or a smirk from Herro), would make the game academic.
I mean, let’s face it: a starting line-up that has Jimmy Butler, Jae Crowder, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, and Meyers Leonard doesn’t exactly strike fear to people. But an aggressive attitude from that starting line-up as well as bench punch from Olynyk, the experience from Andre Iguodala, and some help from Kendrick Nunn and Solomon Hill made the Lakers really work for it. They knew to take Davis out of the game with foul trouble and this is seriously now a series.
The Lakers didn’t get the usual from Davis; he only scored 15 points and took 9 shots. LeBron went for 25-10-8 and he got some offensive help from Kuzma and Morris (both scored 19 each). They just couldn’t stop the determination of Jimmy Butler, who was hard enough for Game 3.
Of course, the Heat are going to hold out hope that they can get Dragic and Bam back for Game 4 for a better shot to tie the series. But even if they don’t get them back, it’d be foolish to underestimate Butler and the Heat again.
We’ll see on Tuesday.
Bullet Passes
Butler has to be exhausted, though. And you know the Lakers are going to key on him next time. So all the Heat players have to be ready when Butler is contained.
Jimmy Butler said in his pregame and postgame interviews that it’s all about rebounding. The Heat still lost the rebound battle by 7. But they were +2 in defensive rebounds.
They also forced the Lakers to 10 first quarter turnovers. L.A. had 19 turnovers overall. Definitely helped the Heat on this one.
Seriously, LeBron…
So many playoff dimes. pic.twitter.com/KNWLwOw166
— ᴿᵉʸ⁻ᴿᵉʸ🤞🏾✌🏾 (@TheNoLookPass) October 5, 2020
NBA Finals Scoreboard
Game 3: #1 LAL 104 vs #5 MIA 115 (LAL leads series, 2-1)
Watch This Play
Check out this reverse alley-oop jam by Davis.
Rondo-AD alley-oops are works of art.
(📺: ABC) pic.twitter.com/18slKNOXo4
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 5, 2020
Game 4 is something now. At least, the Heat are no longer a doormat for the Lakers to walk over. But we’ll see if the Heat can tie this series and prove they’re a worthy opponent for the Lakers.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.