The Heat are optimistic about Jimmy Butler‘s status for the rest of the Eastern Conference Finals even though he wasn’t able to play in the second half of Game 3, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN. Coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters that Butler won’t have to undergo another MRI, but his availability for Monday night hasn’t been determined.
Butler is experiencing inflammation in his right knee, a problem that has plagued him since Game 4 of Miami’s first-round series against Atlanta. Spoelstra said the team’s training staff decided at halftime Saturday that he shouldn’t try to keep playing through it.
“He didn’t have his, like, normal explosive burst,” Spoelstra explained. “He’s been able to manage this. I think the next two days will be really important, obviously. At halftime, really, the trainers made the call. Just feel like we’ve been in this situation a lot with a few of our guys. We almost have to restrain them. We get it, and we love it about them, how they are wired. But we also don’t want to be irresponsible.”
There’s more on the Heat:
- One of the biggest shots of the night was hit by Max Strus, a former G League player who was waived by the Celtics in 2019, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. After Boston closed to within a point, Strus drained a three-pointer with 2:16 remaining to swing the momentum back to Miami. He said the play was suggested in the huddle by Kyle Lowry. “In the timeout, Kyle said: ‘Let’s run a pin-down for Max. Let’s get him open,’” Strus said. “So when he said that, I had all the confidence in the world to step up and make a shot. Just shot my normal shot. I got two great screens from Bam (Adebayo) and P.J. (Tucker) and hit a wide-open jumper.”
- Although there are health questions about Butler and Tyler Herro, who appeared to suffer a quad injury, the Heat were briefly at full strength on Saturday as Lowry returned from an injured left hamstring, notes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Lowry, who has played 78 total minutes over the past month, had 11 points and six assists and provided a strong defensive presence as Miami built a large early lead.
- With Butler unavailable, the Heat got the performance they needed from Adebayo, observes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. The big man had a 31-point night, including eight in the fourth quarter to help hold off the Celtics’ rally. “When Jimmy was out in the second half, he just stabilized us,” Spoelstra said. “It got a little gnarly out there and when it did, we were able to get the ball to Bam and just get something coherent.”
As a Heat fan watching all the regular season games, A HEAT, gutsy, gritty, next man up philosophy Heat win. 1) Bam stepped up offensively( 31 points) 2) PJ Tucker out played Tatum, held him to 10 points, PJ scoring 17 points 3) Lowry coming back from injury energizing team, organizing offensive sets, tough D, stealing inbound pass at end of game cementing win in closing minute 4) Un drafted Max Strus scoring 16 points, tough D, Hitting 4 3’s, last crucial 3 with 2:16 left in game after timeout put Heat up by 4 ) Heat as team had 19 Steals 5) Olidipo played great D, had 4 steals and caused havoc defensively, though box score shows 5 points, his impact was tremendous with Butler out the 2nd half with knee issue. 6) Caleb Martin played team D, efficient 8 points off bench 7) with Butler out 2nd half, Hero not playing 4th period due to injury, offensively was a struggle, but Lowry, Bam and team gutted it out last 5 minutes when Celtics were charging. Crazy great Heat Win…. Series will go down to the wire… healthier team left standing wins….burn the boats win…. HEAT Depth prevails….
It was a great gm for Heat. Definitely showed their grit. I just they got something left for gm 4 lol. Go Heat
Heat
small ball philosophy
I still pick Celtics in 7
Herro has serious quad injury?
I think the Celtics are the safe pick, although I reluctantly picked the Heat in 7. Boston just seems superior outside of mental and turnover lapses. If they play smart/sound I do think my pre series pick will be wrong. But the Heat are scrappy so I will stick with my puck,…but no confidence in that pick
As much as Bill Simmons has pushed the “IDK, is Tatum a top 5 guy now?” topic over the last few months, I’m sorry I just don’t see it.
Giannis, (prime) LeBron, Luka, Jokic, Embiid, and KD (w/ the notable exception of his last series) just don’t come out in pivotal game 3s and lay eggs like he did last night.
To me he’s close to the Booker/Butler/Bam tier of guys than the former. Credit to Miami for holding on for the win last night though – that was a gutsy win
I used to make light of Tatum, but he has been useful finally with something besides being precocious. When the leading scorer commits to team defense with his own effort, teammates follow, so I credit him for leadership this year. It took Udoka, probably.
Totally agree – defensively he’s a beast.
He can’t get on that list. I even put Butler, Curry, DeRozan on there.
Yes top 5
Giannis
Doncic
Morant
Embiid
Tatum
LeBron is not top 10, imo
Not the guy with back to back MVPs? Interesting.
Simmons doesn’t think Tatum is top 5. He is just trying to get clicks and views. No one thinks Tatum is top 5.
Don’t fall for Internet manipulation bro. Sometimes people just like winding people up. You’re too smart for that.
Thing is I wasn’t even being serious bro. Did you think I was? Dam. AcctUeLly I was just using iRoNy to be super cool like you.
Cool bro. Thought you got super mad again. Glad you figured it out. I actually thought you listened to Bill Simmons and tried to figure out whether he was right about things, then wrote about it on the Internet.
Orien, again please stop spamming my inbox with all of your edits. It’s really not a lot to ask :/
I get it. Replying to buttholesurfer69 on HoopsRumors dot com is a big deal for you but IDK … maybe draft these replies in a word doc?
Thanks man
Sorry bro, I have so much fun with you that it’s hard to leave it alone. Sometimes I write something, then a minute later I go..wait.. You know?
I edited that one three times just for you.
You actually get notifications on this stuff bro? You just get two more?
Dude, I don’t get notifications though, I just check this numerous times a day because I like talking to you on Hoopsrumors.com. So it might be a bit but I will get back to you. Sorry, about the notifications bro. I edited this one like 7 times I think.
8…sorry.
Wait did you think I was serious about that? Really? Dam man.
That was just irony dude…
No dude, I knew you were kidding. You and me are totally the same bro. I was just playing along.
“I was walkin’ down around Venice way
Los Angeles
Oh big California
A man came up to me”
You like that one by Gibby man?
Dude…you like that song?
You got notifications on bro?
Have you ever considered the possibility that I don’t actually like that band, or even know anything about them besides whatever single they had out like 25 years ago, and that I actually just enjoy surfing b*******s?
Have a great week :)
My rankings on top 10 (by order)
Giannis
Jokic
Embiid
Doncic
Tatum
Morant
Butler
Booker
Curry
Durant
I don’t buy all the uncle things.
Uncle Paul
Uncle James
Uncle Banana Boat
They discovered a weakness last night and they will exploit it to the fullest. I love how so many ‘expert’ fans keep underestimating the Heat and Erik Spolstras coaching, intense film study,and overall acumen.
Bam ba Bam Bam
Heat players keep getting underdogged, it’s bliss because it’s absolutely motivating for this physically dominant Heat team and for their hard working vets
This Heat teams window is wide open now and they can seize this opportunity
I predict they will continue to enjoy being the written off underdogs with success to the next round
You should post this when they lose too, not just when they win.
It would be way more impressive.
Spo talking about Butler could have said it for formerlyz and his 8 years refrain:
“we’ve been in this situation a lot with a few of our guys. We almost have to restrain them. We get it, and we love it about them, how they are wired.”
—–
Lowry kept missing 3s, but he came back with that suggestion for Strus. Lowry could get a shot off with screening action whenever he wanted, but was missing. Strus gave up a lot of points to Jaylen Brown, so he was motivated. Bang!
Bam is terrific when he’s not locked into the paint. Butler is terrific regardless.
Turnovers beat the celtics. Strus is clutch.
Lowry playing has to be a great sign for Heat. But Heat need a healthy Jimmy. I hope he’s good. Would hate to see him go out like this. I know it was a BAM BAM night. But Lowry and Oladipo played great gms. Both showed how much an impact you can make without scoring. Oladipo has woke at right time. Heat need everyone especially if Jimmy is not 100%. Herro, Duncan, Oladipo, Lowry have to provide more offense. Heat bench has been great. They all come in and just do their work. This is a well coached team. Spoelstra does deserve more credit. Also Strus is playing big time. Heat always find these guys out of nowhere. And they become impactful players in their system. They are the best at this. Truly a great quality to have.
All of the rotation stuff I talked about came into play. If Butler is out, it changes things again. In that case, Yurtseven might be the play, and Duncan Robinson, and Haywood Highsmith should see minutes. No Dedmon.
Bam making that huge shot at the end of the shot clock right around that time Strus hit that big 3 was a shot we’ve known for a couple of years he can make, but he just never takes it. Hope to see more aggression from Bam when he catches it below the 3 point line