The Lakers had no answer for Jimmy Butler on Friday night in Game 5 of the NBA Playoffs. With the Heat facing elimination, Butler was phenomenal, nearly recording a triple-double (27-10-9) within the first three quarters of the game.
A controversial play in the third quarter could have changed the game for the Heat, as Dwight Howard faced a possible ejection from the game based on the officials’ interpretation of his hard contact with Butler.
Butler went up for a rebound and putback of a shot that deflected off the rim, and as he gained possession of the ball, Howard swung his arm for a block and struck Butler in the side of the head. Butler hit the floor and held his head, and as basketball Twitter debated whether Howard deserved a flagrant-2 foul for the contact, ABC went to commercial. When the broadcast resumed, Mike Breen revealed that Howard was given a flagrant-1 foul, which kept him in the game.
Dwight Howard was called for a Flagrant 1 on this Jimmy Butler and-one putback. pic.twitter.com/7rJcVja6hT
— ESPN (@espn) October 10, 2020
No Dwight, that was unnecessary. #LakeShow x #HeaTTwitter #WholeNewGame #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/R3gjQCenHt
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) October 10, 2020
Howard and Butler came together early in the first quarter, and were assessed double technical fouls for an incident under the bucket.
Jimmy Butler and Dwight Howard don’t seem to like each other. pic.twitter.com/Pg4IBswsjK
— Will Manso (@WillManso) October 10, 2020
