Greg Cote: They're alive! Jimmy Butler, Heat force Game 6 vs. LeBron and Lakers in NBA Finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) shoots a 3-pointer with less than two seconds on the clock, but misses as the Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo defends during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won, 111-108, to force a Game 6. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The Miami Heat had that attitude entering Game 5, like you knew they would. It was summoning everything about "Heat culture" to the fore.

"Our confidence ain't going nowhere," declared Jimmy Butler.

Said coach Erik Spoelstra of the doubters: "We don't give a s--- what everybody else thinks."

The Los Angeles Lakers' Dwight Howard fouls the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler (22) as he drives to the basket in the first quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won, 111-108, to force a Game 6. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

All good, all expected. Except all of it just sounded like rhetoric, like backs-to-the-wall desperation. Sounded like breaking glass in case of an emergency.

Because this was an emergency.

Teams do not survive a 3-1 hole in the NBA Finals. It is all but a certifiable, historical guarantee.

The Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis is fouled by Miami Heat's Andre Iguodala, right, as Jimmy Butler (22) helps on defense in the fourth quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won, 111-108, to force a Game 6. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Thirty-five teams have tried over the decades. Thirty-four have failed.

That meant, entering Friday night's Finals Game 5, by the math, the Los Angeles Lakers had a 97.14% likelihood of winning this championship trophy, to Miami's 2.86%.

Well, guess what?

The Los Angeles Lakers' Dwight Howard (39) is held back by the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler, left, and Jae Crowder during a first-quarter skirmish in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The big-underdog Heat just gave itself a chance. Still not an enviable one. Not a likely one.

But a fighting chance.

The Heat pulled within 3-2 in this best-of-7 Finals with Friday's excruciatingly dramatic 111-108 had-to-have-it elimination-game victory in the Orlando bubble.

The Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) collides with the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler (22) in the fourth quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won, 111-108, to force a Game 6. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Jimmy Butler's 35-point triple-double led Miami, offsetting LeBron James' 40-point show for L.A.

Two heavyweights, to the final bell.

Miami's run at its fourth franchise crown has come out of nowhere, following a season in which the Heat hadn't even made the playoffs. And, improbably, they live on.

The Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis, right, and the Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo battle for a loose ball in the third quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won, 111-108, to force a Game 6. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

This whole weird, delayed, pandemic-wracked season was a surprise, a gift, and it continues.

LeBron's fourth championship with three different teams and the Lakers' record-tying 17th _ both denied. Or at least postponed, until Sunday night's Game 6 ... or Tuesday's Game 7?

After steamrolling through three earlier playoff opponents including No. 1 seed Milwaukee with league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Heat got unlucky. That's fair to say. All-Star Bam Adebayo missed a chunk of the Finals injured and key player Goran Dragic missed more than that.

The Los Angeles Lakers' Danny Green, left, blocks a shot by the Miami Heat's Tyler Herro (14) in the first quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

There was no real logical reason to see a depleted Miami beating a team fronted by LeBron and Anthony Davis.

The Heat still might not. It would take two more wins in a row.

But Friday night made it seem possible, at least.

The Miami Heat's Duncan Robinson, bottom right, takes a charging foul from the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) in the second half during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won, 111-108, to force a Game 6. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The Heat are going to outwork you. Out-want you. Be mentally tougher. That's the crux of the "culture." And it must sound like nonsense to other fans in other cities. But how else to explain a fifth-seeded team not at full strength doing this against LeBron and A.D?

The Lakers on Friday donned their rarely worn black "Mamba" jerseys designed by Kobe himself in his honor, his memory in their hearts. This was the closeout game, the one that was supposed to end with champagne.

Instead it ended with their first defeat in those Mamba jerseys.

The Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis (3) blocks a shot by the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler in the first quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

We mentioned earlier that in NBA Finals history 34 of 35 teams with 3-1 series leads have won.

Notably, the lone anomaly, the only team down 3-1 to win three in a row for the crown, was LeBron's Cleveland Cavaliers beating Golden State in 2016.

He knew what it felt like to administer that pain.

The Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler steals the ball from the Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis (3) in the second quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

He doesn't plan on being on the receiving end of it _ although Friday put him one game closer.

Miami has been down in all three NBA Finals it has won.

Down 2-0 to in 2006.

The Miami Heat's Kendrick Nunn, middle, gets a pass off in front of the Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis in the second quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won, 111-108, to force a Game 6. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Down 1-0 in 2012.

Down 2-1 and 3-2 in 2013.

Down 3-2 again, now, in 2020.

The Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler blocks the shot of the Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) in the fourth quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The Heat won, 111-108, to force a Game 6. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

The odds are against the Heat, still. No doubt.

But is this a team you want to doubt or count out?

Is it really?

The Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James (23) grabs a rebound as he is fouled by the Miami Heat's Andre Iguodala (28) in the second quarter during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS)