Butler made a mistake against the Celtics
Heat star point guard Jimmy Butler poured in a game-high 35 points in the loss, scoring 82 overall between Games 6 and 7 combined. That is the most in any two-game span in Miami’s postseason history.
However, he had the game-tying (or possible lead) in his hands with about 17 seconds left in the fourth period. Did he make the right decision in shooting from three?
Also, what else went wrong for the team, and what moves should Pat Riley make?
Our experts answer these questions and more.
- What went wrong for the Heat?
First and second, injuries, as everything else was a direct effect of that problem. Miami took the series against the Celtics to seven games despite the injury ordeal they suffered in the postseason.
Tyler Herro did not play through injury from Game 2 until making a futile effort in Game 7. Kyle Lowry did what he could despite his discomfort and Butler was able to revive in Games 6 and 7 despite a knee discomfort, but his 48-minute, 35-point effort in the deciding game was not enough.
On the court, the Heat shot for 30% from beyond the arc, by far the worst of the four teams that were in the Conference Finals. That’s pretty bad considering 39.9 percent of their field attempts were from that area and it was magnified in Game 7 at 6-30 (20 percent) at home.
Of the stellar starters, only P.J. Tucker was at 40 percent, the rest didn’t hit 30 percent. With attacking options reduced by injuries, maintaining a good three-point shooting percentage was critical to Erik Spoelstra’s strategy. Nor did anyone see it coming that the Heat, who were 29-12 and undefeated at home heading into the season finale, would lose three of four games to Boston at FTX Arena.
- Did Butler make the right decision with 17.5 seconds to play?
Yes. Unfortunately, outside of Butler, no one on that roster was putting the ball in at the crucial moment. Lowry was a complete bust and Adebayo, despite having a great game, wasn’t playing him. It was Butler who was supposed to take that shot. Now, three-pointer or attacking the basket?
If one looks closely at the play (the easy one, as we are not on the court in such a decisive moment like that) Butler had the space and confidence to make that shot. It was for the ‘win’ and not for the tie.
The triple Butler attempted, in English ‘pull up 3’, is not something new to the shooting guard’s game. According to Second Spectrum, Butler attempted 19 of them in the regular season for 32%. Likewise, he had a 29% success rate of hitting the shot, Second Spectrum adds.
In sports, as in life, you have to take risks for different results. Butler did and it didn’t come out. End of story. After all, he was the one who had to decide what to do.
- What’s next for Miami and what should Riley do?
As soon as the Heat were eliminated, the requests in Miami regarding the future of the team began to flood the social networks. Embiid was the most mentioned name, especially because of the good relationship with Butler. But there is something that complicates any possible exchange with the Sixers star: the salary cap.
Miami has 10 players under contract for next season and there would be only five spots left to complete the team. But those 10 players accumulated a salary cap hit of $133.4M. Embiid has one more season with Philadelphia at 33.6 M so it would have to be a trade. Philadelphia just brought in JamesHarden to go along with the pivot and will likely not want to part with their franchise player.
On the other hand, it’s hard to see how the Sixers would accept a trade for role players like Duncan Robinson, PJ Tucker and Tyler Herro plus some fill-in player to part with their best player. Adebayo plus Herro might be a more attractive option. But I reiterate that I see it difficult for Philadelphia to write off Embiid when what they want at this point is to renew him.
Pat Riley has other issues to resolve such as the continuity or not of Victor Oladipo, Markieff Morris and Dewayne Dedmon (all played for the veteran minimum) and Caleb Martin).
more attractive. But I reiterate that I see it difficult for Philadelphia to write off Embiid when what they want at this point is to renew him.
Pat Riley has other issues to resolve such as the continuity or not of Victor Oladipo, Markieff Morris and Dewayne Dedmon (all played for the veteran minimum) and Caleb Martin.
Most likely, Pat Riley will keep the current core of Butler, Kyle Lowry, Adebayo, Tucker and Herro and try to find complementary figures to keep them as contenders. The bargaining chip would be Duncan Robinson, but his high contract and poor playoff contribution (he barely played an average of 12.2 minutes per game and in five of the Heat’s 18 games he didn’t even play) could limit other teams’ interest in pursuing him.
