With no counter for Jimmy Butler, Knicks will not survive Heat | Opinion
MIAMI — Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau ran out of superlatives when asked about Miami's Jimmy Butler before Game 3.
Thibodeau marveled at Butler's pick-and-roll game, how he runs offense, gets to the free throw line, posts up, his shot awareness and body position.
"He's clever with the ball so you try to make a guy like that work for his points," Thibs said.
Too bad his team did not get the message.
Game 3 was over the minute the Heat announced the best player in the postseason this year not named Devin Booker was cleared after suffering an ankle injury late in Game 1.
Butler put his stamp on this game from the first possession, rebounding Julius Randle's weak fadeaway, leading the break and knocking down a short turnaround until he came off the bench to nail a 14-footer midway through the fourth quarter after the Knicks got to within 14.
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And in between he entertained the crowd, dancing and spinning the ball on his finger Globetrotter style as officials were dealing with an altercation between Miami's Cody Zeller and the Knicks' Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein late in the third quarter better described as a dustup than a brouhaha, especially with the history of these teams.
Butler's numbers were modest, by his standards, in Miami's 105-86 victory giving it a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal. But his imprint set the tone.
"I'm comfortable, I'm confident, I work extremely hard on my craft," Butler said.
Butler finished with a game-high 28 points in 36 minutes, certainly well below his 35.5-point average in the postseason and said he "was definitely out of rhythm," shooting 9 of 21.
But as he left the court and headed down the hallway to the Heat's locker room he could be heard shouting, "Best player in the world has returned."
He was joking … we think.
And it didn't matter the best player in Heat postseason history — yes, better than LeBron, Wade, Zo, Hardaway, all of them — was hobbled in the third quarter from an apparent thigh injury after sliding into the stanchion. Spoelstra said Butler needed about three plays to shake it off and no ice was needed postgame.
Still, a limping, ailing Jimmy Butler is the best player on the floor.
"He's on his run right now, he's playing at an all-time high," Heat center Bam Adebayo said.
Miami never trailed and its lead never dipped below double figures after the first 22 seconds of the second quarter. This was mostly thanks to an uninspired effort by the Knicks, who so far are proving their first-round victory was the result of playing a fraudulent Cavaliers team.
The mystery surrounding Butler's ankle really wasn't a mystery at all. The decision to sit Butler for Game 2 was essentially made when the Heat walked off the floor at Madison Square Garden last Sunday with a 1-0 series lead.
The safe play was to rest Butler. The only question was if the Heat had lost Game 1 would Butler have played Game 2, not would Butler play Game 3 after nearly a full week of rest? That was a given.
"A lot of recovery and making sure I could move went into it," Butler said.
Butler showed early why he is and will be the difference in this series and this could end with the Knicks' only win coming in the game Butler was the highest-paid cheerleader in the arena.
The most encouraging part for the Heat Sunday is this wasn't even "Playoff Jimmy" at his playoff best and the lead still was 22 points with about eight minutes to play, signaling the start of an extended garbage time.
Just his presence energized the Kaseya Center and Butler made sure any transplanted New Yorkers weren't able to get a "Let's Go Knicks" chant started. A step-back jumper with Jalen Brunson coming to double-team. A tip-in off a Bam Adebayo miss. A dunk off a Gabe Vincent steal and assist.
And that wasn't all. A pair of blocks on an RJ Barrett floater and Josh Hart layup … all in the first quarter. And when the Heat felt a bit threatened late in the fourth quarter, Butler, who had sat most of the quarter, came off the bench to ease the angst.
"You can't put an analytic to it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said about Butler's impact. "It's just the overall confidence level your team has that you can always get the ball to him and know we'll get something efficient and coherent."
In a sense, this series started in Game 3. The Heat won Game 1 with Randle nursing a sore ankle and the Knicks won Game 2 with Butler wearing his sleeveless T-shirt on the Heat bench.
Now, this series finally got to a point where everyone on the active roster (the Heat entered with Tyler Herro out for the rest of the playoffs) was available.
And it was not good for the Knicks.