![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Through it all, he said confidence remains, still with the chance to avoid returning to Madison Square Garden for a Monday 8 p.m. He then was last among Heat players to address the media. He sat for an extended period at his locker treating his ankle. If Spo tells me to play 48 minutes, I will be suited and booted and ready to do that and we’ll win.”įor Butler, the postgame was as deliberate as the way he probes the defense. “Your best is needed for all 48 minutes and more if you’re going into overtime. “I’m never surprised with anything come playoff basketball time,” Butler said of his playing time and that of the Knicks’ starting backcourt. If more is needed, Butler said, then more can be provided. “I just wanted to see if we could take the lead.” “I did have an inclination to maybe get him out at some point,” Spoelstra said of Butler. For Spoelstra, it meant playing Butler all 24 minutes in the second half, 42:43 overall. So you’ve got to work the game and make plays.”įor the Knicks, that meant playing Grimes and Jalen Brunson all 48 minutes Wednesday night. Both teams are well-schooled, well-drilled and have a kind of competitive spirit. You’re not like on an island, either way, where you’re just able to go to work on somebody and pick on a matchup. “Sometimes you’re not going to get all the clean looks that you would like, and you’ve got to figure out how to get the job done, even if you win it ugly. While the Knicks have shifted to Quentin Grimes as the primary defender against Butler, Spoelstra downplayed that switch away from Josh Hart. And if I score 10 points next game and we win, that won’t be an issue, it won’t be a question and I will continue to play the right way.” “It doesn’t matter if I score 40 or 50, 19 or nine,” he said. Unlike his dominant performances in the series, Butler shot only 5 of 12 in Game 5, a combination of the Knicks increasing the volume of their double teams and Butler not looking as spry on that balky right ankle. Winderman’s view: Too much to overcome, so Heat forced to battle on ![]()
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