Hit beats the Lakers behind yet another Butler masterpiece to survive in the NBA Finals | NBA Finals

Jimmy Butler fell on a video board behind baseline in final seconds, exhausted, gasping for air.

He gave everything.

The Miami Heat No less needed.

The NBA Finals Miami’s title chances did not end, not after Butler and Hitt creatively performed in match five Friday night. Butler scored 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, and Heat beat Los Angeles 111-108 to reduce the Lakers’ lead in the title series to 3-2.

“This is Jimmy Butler,” said Pam Adebayo of the Heat Center. “This is our best player and that is what we’re going for in these moments.”

And for good reason. He didn’t let them down, not even in a night where LeBron James The quest for a fourth title and the player with the best closing game record in NBA history was brilliant.

James scored 40 points and collected 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers. But in the case of possession that decided everything on Friday night, the Heat forced the ball to take James out of James’s hand by sending him three defenders while he drove on the right side of the lane, and the Lakers needed only one basket. To get an address.

He found Green alone above the key; Green’s shot was too short and Hit closed it with a pair of free throws.

“It was fortunate that Danny Green missed that shot at the top of the switch,” Butler said.

The sixth game on Sunday night.

James said, “We looked to Hell to win the match and win the series.” “It has not decreased.”

Duncan Robinson scored 26 points for Miami, using seven players. Kendrick Nunn scored 14 points, Pam Adebayo 13, Tyler Hero 12 and Jay Croder 11. The seventh player Andre Iguodala did not score.

Punching Anthony Davis scored 28 points while Kentavius ​​Caldwell Bob scored 16 points for the Lakers.

Los Angeles broke all the stops: Davis had shiny gold sneakers, the color of which was similar to the Larry O’Brien Cup, and the team made a decision earlier in the week to skip the scheduled purple outfit and wear the designer black outfit inspired by Kobe Bryant instead.

They were 4-0 in that uniform. They are 4-1 now.

But Bryant, how would he have loved this fight. Drama all the way to the end.

Robinson put the trio with 3:13 places ahead of Miami by 2 lead, and began a stretch as the next nine goals from either side led to a draw or change the lead.

Back and forth. Butler took a foul 46.7 seconds before the end, then fell on the main video boards, clearly exhausted. Take both bad hits to gain one point; Davis’ retreat 21.8 seconds ago sent the Lakers back to the top.

“We were very close,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. “I felt two bad calls in the end putting Butler to the test, you know, which is unfortunate in a game of this size.”

Hit coach Eric Spoelstra used his last time after scoring the green light, only to buy a Butler for a few minutes of rest. Butler led the runway, drew the contact and made both 16.8 seconds before the end to lead 109-108.

“Every young player coming into this league should study clips of Jimmy Butler, introduce a two-way player competing on both sides, five steals, and then do these big games for us offensively,” Spoelstra said.

Thanks to Butler, who played everything except for 38 seconds, they survived. The season continues.

“That’s the position we’re in and we love it that way,” Butler said. “And we have two more to get.”