Jimmy Butler’s triple-double propelled Miami Heat to a 111-108 victory over Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. The win kept Heat alive in the best-of-seven NBA Finals, which Lakers lead 3-2.
Butler scored 35 points with 12 rebounds and 11 assists and Heat withstood a 40-point performance from Lakers superstar LeBron James. Game Six is on Sunday, and seven, if needed, will be on Tuesday.
Rare rally
Heat can become just the second team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win the championship series. The only other team to do it was the James-led Cleveland Cavaliers against Golden State in 2016.
Butler drained two free-throws with 16.8 seconds left to put Heat up by one.
James, stymied under the basket, found Danny Green for a wide-open three-pointer with 7.1 seconds remaining but Green missed and Tyler Herro added two more free-throws to seal the game.
On a night that saw Heat lead much of the way, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s three-pointer with 6:18 remaining put the Lakers up 97-96.
But Heat dug in, Duncan Robinson’s three-pointer put the team ahead 101-99 with 3:16 remaining, and it was a heavyweight slugfest the rest of the way, the lead changing hands seven more times.
Robinson added 26 points for Miami. Kendrick Nunn had 14, Bam Adebayo 13, Herro 12 and Jae Crowder 11. James added 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers, Anthony Davis 28 points and Caldwell-Pope 16.
Multiple triple-doubles
Butler is just the sixth player in NBA Finals history to have multiple triple-doubles in the title series, and just the second, along with James, to have multiple 30-point triple-doubles in the same Finals.
The result: Finals: Miami Heat 111 (Butler 35, Robinson 26) bt LA Lakers 108 (James 40, Davis 28) Lakers 3-2.
