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In the last five minutes in regulation, Jimmy Butler scored 12 points, with eight of them in a row at one point, to vault the Miami Heat (36-32) to a four-point win Friday night.
The six-time all star did so shooting a very efficient 12-16 hitting a handful of clutch shots. The most important of which came after the Cleveland Cavaliers (42-27) went on a mini 6-0 run to cut it to one with :38 to go. Butler stared down Lamar Stevens on the left elbow. He elevated over Stevens to swish it through, even though it was defended well.
Some extra fire had to have been lit underneath the Heat with them losing by four two nights ago on their home floor. The caveat in round two, was that Cleveland was down their floor general, Darius Garland. He suffered a right quad contusion in that win and was not able to participate in shootarounds before tip off.
That meant more opportunities for Donovan Mitchell to have another crazy night and boy did he. For the third time in a game this season, the Louisville product rained in 25 points in the first half. Even more impressive, all of these occasions have been on the road. The Mavericks (Dec. 14), the Jazz (Jan. 10), and now the Heat, have all had no answers for the three-level scorer.
Mitchell led all scorers with 42 on 50% from the floor and 8-15 from three. But, with half of your backcourt tandem out, it will always be a challenge to overcome. Caris LeVert, who got elevated to the starting five, dropped in 16. Isaac Okoro also notched 16 hitting six out of nine attempts. For most of the game though, Mitchell was the only one who had it going for most of the game.
Reinforcements for the Cavaliers showed up a tad late, whereas Miami got more consistent play from the rest of the group. Do-it-all forward, Bam Adebayo and three-point sniper, Tyler Herro, were major contributors from start to finish. Both had six points after the first quarter and ten heading into the half.
Bam and Tyler got the Heat back into the contest at the start of the fourth with Herro hitting a three to regain the lead 93-91. Adebayo did his usual damage around the basket with six points in the first five minutes of the quarter.
When the Cleveland offense started to have more contributions the game down the stretch was very interesting with the momentum teetering after key illegal screens committed by Miami. After that is when the Cavaliers trimmed it to one with half a minute left.
However, Butler continues to show why he is one of the most clutch players we have in the league. Through all of the late game drama, he nailed two more free throws to make it a two-possession game and grind out a key win.
UP NEXT
Cleveland takes on the Charlotte Hornets Sunday and then Tuesday March 14 as part of another mini series. The Heat are back in action Saturday at Orlando to face the Magic.
