Heat missed Jimmy Butler's clutch shot making down stretch in Game 2 loss to Knicks
Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler, right, talks to forward Haywood Highsmith (24) from the bench in the first half of Game 2 in the NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinals playoff series against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Credit: AP/Mary Altaffer
Jimmy Butler sat at his locker ahead of Game 2. Instead of warming up, the Heat forward sipped Saratoga water from a blue bottle while wearing a brown jacket and a white hat.
A sprained right ankle kept Butler sidelined Tuesday and he could only watch as the Knicks pulled away for a 111-105 win over Miami at Madison Square Garden.
The Heat tried to make up for Butler with a collective effort but missed him late when they needed clutch baskets. The Knicks countered with an 7-0 run late to even the series at 1-1.
One could see it as the Knicks barely surviving at home against a Heat team minus Butler and Tyler Herro. The Heat led for most of the second and third quarter and got within 108-105 with 22.0 seconds left.
“Jimmy’s a huge part of what we do. And tonight, I feel like we could compete with anybody if he’s playing or not.” Caleb Martin said. "We have that confidence as a group, we gave ourselves plenty of chances to come out with a win tonight. We just didn’t get to finish it the way we wanted to.”
Martin, who started in Butler’s place, led the team with a playoff career-high 22 points. Gabe Vincent made four three-pointers, one shy of his playoff best, and scored 21 points.
Four Heat players scored at least 15 points. It wasn’t enough to overcome a combined 79 points from Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett but it was enough to show the fight that Butler would’ve appreciated.
“It was a tough one to play like that without our best player,” said guard Max Strus. “It was inspirational I guess? But it was good to see other guys step up and put up a good fight like that.”
Strus had 17 points and Bam Adebayo had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
But what was missing from Game 1 was Kyle Lowry. After 18 points Sunday, the veteran point guard had just six points while shooting 3-for-9 from the field.
Despite that, they stayed close without Butler, who leads the NBA in scoring this postseason. But in the final minutes, they missed Butler’s clutch shot making.
Brunson blew kisses to the crowd after a three-pointer gave the Knicks a 99-96 lead. After Adebayo made a layup to cut the deficit to 101-100, Josh Hart made a three-pointer to keep the Knicks up for good.
There’s optimism that Butler could return for Game 3 on Saturday in Miami. At the shootaround Tuesday, Spoelstra said Butler was present with the team but didn’t say if he participated or not.
With three days in between games, there is plenty of time off for Butler, who didn’t have a noticeable limp when he left the court at the final buzzer.
“His body will let you know, me know, him know, them know, there’s no way to predict it,” Spoelstra said. “But I’m glad we have a couple of extra days off.”
Butler was probably glad too. He stood on the sidelines for the final minutes eager to help his Heat teammates with moral support. But they’ll hope he can do more than that come Saturday.
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
