MIAMI – In the Miami Heat's huge win over the Dallas Mavericks Sunday night in overtime, 123-118, it was another great performance from their main star Jimmy Butler. The Heat forward was excellent against the Philadelphia 76ers and carried that performance from last Monday into a week later as he spoke about one aspect he honed in on due to conversations with Erik Spoelstra.
Butler would finish with 33 points, collected nine rebounds, and recorded six assists as he shot 11 of 17 from the field and was exceptional at getting to the free-throw line, making 11 of 16 attempts. He would say after the game how he wants to be more “aggressive,” as Spoelstra is always advising behind the scenes.
“I feel like I gotta start attacking more often whenever I'm aggressive like that, like the guys want me to be, like Spo always telling me to be,” Butler said. “It opens up a lot more for everybody else. So if I can spearhead that part of the offense, we good. Now, just got to figure out how to do it on the defensive side.”
Jimmy Butler speaks on how he wants to be more aggressive as the team wants him to… #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/l2WXffkVma
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) November 25, 2024
Heat's Jimmy Butler on the play that sent the game into overtime
There were many highlight plays from the game, including Butler connecting on a thrilling behind-the-back, no-look shot at the paint late in the fourth quarter, and especially the dunk that tied the game to send it into overtime. He would speak about that moment, sing the praises of his head coach, and even credit Duncan Robinson for the in-bounds pass.
“Part of basketball, I'm just glad that we took this to overtime and won,” Butler said. “Spo [Spoelstra] is hellafied. You know, I just saw that he got voted the best coach in the association. Rightfully so, because he'd be locked in, he'd be studying and stuff like nobody I've ever seen. And he drew up something that was incredible. And I hate to say it, but Duncan made an incredible pass.”
The Heat star was questionable going into the game Sunday as he missed Saturday's practice with an illness but was made available the day of the outing and turned in a great performance.
Heat's Jimmy Butler receives praise from Bam Adebayo
A type of performance like that fuels the rest of the team, as Heat center Bam Adebayo spoke about after the game, wherewith how he's aggressive and setting his team up, the team “feeds off of it.” Adebayo would finish the game with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
“I mean, he's a smart player, man. He makes the right play all the time,” Adebayo said. “And when it's all setting up and we feed off of it. You know, we have moments where sometimes it's Tyler, sometimes it's me, sometimes it's him. And right now, it's him, and we're behind that.”
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Heat's Erik Spoelstra on one of Jimmy Butler's crucial traits
There is no doubt that throughout the last six seasons, Butler has built major camaraderie with the rest of the team, combining his fun, intense attitude that also results in impressive play on the court. Spoelstra would speak about that during his post-game presser, specifically about his “processing speed.”
“He has the highest percentile of processing speed when the balls in his hands, that was there our first year. And you know the uniqueness of how he does it, he can bring this rugged physicality, intensity, toe-the-line intensity and slow everything down in the moments of truth. That's part of his genius. He's not just putting his head down and crashing into people, just three yards and a cloud of dust. He's reading wherever the rotation may slip up. You know, that's the kind of thing that obviously great players like, somebody like Jokic, you know, he's doing a little bit of slower pace, but that's what he's doing, he's processing this. That's a tough skill.”
Miami is now 7-7 as they look to win three straight games as the Milwaukee Bucks come into town for NBA Cup group play Tuesday night.
