Butler-James duel reaches new heights as Heat stay alive vs. Lakers

Jimmy Butler recorded his second triple-double of the NBA Finals as the Miami Heat staved off elimination to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-108 Friday night and force a Game 6 in their championship series.

Butler hit a pair of free throws with 16.8 seconds left in the game to give Miami a one-point lead and on the ensuing Lakers offensive possession LeBron James set up teammate Danny Green at the top of the key with a wide-open look to give Los Angeles a chance to take the lead back, but he missed.

The Lakers were gifted another opportunity, however when Markieff Morris got the offensive rebound but appeared to panic trying to force a pass inside only to see it sail out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Heat who saw Tyler Herro ice the game with a couple of free throws with 1.6 seconds to play, giving the Lakers no time to get a quality look to force overtime as they had no timeouts left and couldn’t advance the ball.

Game 6 will go on Sunday evening.

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Here are few takeaways from a dramatic Heat victory in Game 5.

Game of the year

Before diving into any of the nitty-gritty of the contest, let’s first take time to appreciate the greatness that was Game 5.

There’s been a lot said about the quality of play all throughout the bubble and Friday’s game looked to be the very apex of all this great basketball we’ve been treated to thus far.

In short, Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals was what peak basketball looks like.

There were 15 lead changes and six separate ties as both teams shot the ball well and got timely stops when needed. Then there was a nail-biting finish and a duel for the ages between two superstars (which we’ll get to in the next section).

So this is less a takeaway and more just a mini section of deep appreciation for that game.

Thank you, Basketball Gods.

Jimmy vs. LeBron

Butler became just the sixth player in NBA history to record multiple triple-doubles in a single NBA Finals when he once again put the Heat on his back for a line of 35 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals on 11-of-19 shooting and a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line.

Among the names on that elite list is LeBron James, who had himself quite the night as well, erupting for 40 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists on 15-of-21 shooting, including a deadly 6-for-9 night from deep.

A big reason why this game was so compelling is because of the duel between these two players.

From early on in the game you knew this game was shaping up to be something special because of the performance of Butler and James with the Heat star going off for 22 first-half points, with six rebounds and assists to boot, and James answering with 21 of his own in the opening half.

As such, the end of the game was enhanced as this showdown met its logical conclusion with the pair going basket for basket down the stretch. Besides the Herro free throws that iced the game and an Anthony Davis putback with 21 seconds to play, all the points scored within the last 2:52 of the game were scored by Butler and James.

It was like scripted theatre but even better because there was no telling what the outcome was going to be until the final buzzer.

Seeing stars compete against each other and thrive the way Butler and James did Friday is why sports will always be the best kind of entertainment.

Heat role players get the job done

First off, let’s address the elephant in the room.

There will be a lot of blame given to Green for missing a wide-open shot to potentially win the championship, but he isn’t to blame.

“I was able to draw two defenders below the free-throw line and find one of our shooters at the top of the key for a wide-open three, to win a championship,” James told reporters after the game of the look Green had. “I trusted him, we trusted him and it just didn’t go and you live with that.”

Less forgiving is the play Morris was attempting to make after he grabbed the offensive rebound. There was about five seconds left to play and he attempted to make a desperate pass on the inside to Davis, despite the Lakers big man being smothered. Morris probably could’ve kicked it out to Green for another look at three or to another perimeter player for a decent look as the majority of Miami’s defenders were scrambling about and out of sorts.

Still, that isn’t what happened and in the end the better team won Friday mainly because as great as Butler was, Miami got the most out of its supporting cast, which vastly outplayed their Lakers counterparts throughout the game.

Duncan Robinson finally got uncorked, exploding for 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting from three-point range, and in the first half Kendrick Nunn was huge in helping Miami enter the break with a lead, scoring 11 of his 14 during that time.

By comparison, outside of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who hit big shots for the Lakers in the fourth quarter, their non-stars were a decided non-factor with the trio of Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo and Alex Caruso being particularly ineffective.

AD injury status

Of pressing concern for the Lakers in advance of Game 6 will be the status of Davis.

The All-NBA big man had another strong game, going for 28 points, collecting 12 rebounds and coming up with three blocks and steals as the primary defender on Butler once again, but he had an injury scare near the end of the first quarter where he looked to bang up his right heel.

At first it didn’t look to be a cause for concern as he hardly missed any time (and actually ended up playing 42 minutes), but down the stretch of the game Davis looked a little hobbled and without that trademark burst that makes him such a unique talent to begin with for his size.

It’s unclear at the moment if it was just fatigue setting in for Davis or anything truly serious, but he will be someone that will be closely monitored right up to tip-off on Sunday, for sure.

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