After Jimmy Butler's Big Game 3, It's Still the Lakers' Finals to Lose

So do we have a series? Or did the Heat just delay a Lakers coronation for a few extra evenings?

After a poor performance by LA and Jimmy Butler having the game of his life, Miami has managed to make the NBA Finals a lot closer, and maybe slightly more intriguing, than just about everybody (other than the ultra-confident Butler) thought it’d be following Game 3.

But even after the short-handed Heat manned up for a surprising 115-104 upset victory Sunday over the Lakers behind Butler’s scintillating triple-double—40 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists—opinions shouldn’t be swayed. We can give you plenty of reasons why the Lakers let the Heat slip out of the sleeper hold LA should’ve tightened. Like Anthony Davis’s horrid game (he scored just 15 points as he was mired in foul trouble and finished a -26 for the game) or the turnovers or the fact LA was out-hustled and out-muscled following two easy wins to open the series.

For now, though, we’ll give Butler his flowers, because god damn he deserves them. He and his Heat brethren did some impressive work to earn their first win of the Finals and prevent LA from playing for a championship Tuesday.

"How else do you say it other than Jimmy effing Butler?" Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "But this is what he wanted, this is what we wanted. It's really hard to analyze or describe Jimmy until you actually feel him between the four lines. He's a supreme, elite competitor and we needed it."

What didn’t Butler do? He set the tone, played 45 exhausting minutes, guarded LeBron James, and carried the Heat offensively in the fourth quarter after the Lakers briefly regained the lead with 8:55 to go after overcoming a 14-point second half deficit. And Butler got his triple-double—the 21st in Finals history—without making or even taking a 3-pointer which is insane for a guard/forward in today’s game.

"Like I said earlier, maybe we just got to play a lot harder and know that that's how we're going to squeak out a win in the end," Butler said, "but there's really not too much to say to our guys, we understand what we have to do."

The Heat won the defensive rebounding battle and clamped down on every LA starter not named LeBron James. Most especially, they didn’t make things easy for Davis—when he was actually on the floor—after AD dominated Miami in Games 1 and 2. Davis was in major foul trouble throughout and was unable to get in any kind of offensive rhythm. But Miami frequently double-teamed and trapped Davis, forcing the ball out of his hands. He finished with the worst +/- rating of the season.

James led the way for the Lakers, finishing with 25 points, 10 boards, and 8 assists while Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris each added 19 as LA’s second-leading scorers. But after those three, there wasn’t much good for the Lakers. Los Angeles didn’t hit their threes like in the first two games of the series. As much as anything, turnovers killed Los Angeles. They were wretched taking care of the ball—they had 10 turnovers in the first quarter when the Lakers got down big. LA finished the contest with 20 turnovers that Miami converted into 17 points.

"They are very good with the stripping," James said. "You can't allow this team to have extra possessions. You can't turn the ball over at that high a rate, especially at this point in the season, as well."

Game 4 is Tuesday and while the Heat now has a major shot of confidence coursing through its veins, let’s be careful saying this all of a sudden is a brand new series. Or suddenly a competitive one. The Lakers played poorly—and that’s putting it nicely. And they easily could've pulled this one out if they hadn't been so incredibly sloppy with the basketball or if AD wasn't spending so much time on the bench. They’re still bigger, stronger, and even when LA’s only playing its B+ game it’s arguably still better than Miami. It took a superhuman effort out of Butler for the Heat—still missing two starters—to steal a victory over the bigger and better Lakers. LA now has to wait until Game 5 on Friday to close out a series (should they take care of business Tuesday) that’s clearly theirs to lose.

"I know how resilient that bunch is and how resilient that coaching staff is and their franchise," James said. "I don't ever feel like we let our guard down. Also, I don't feel like we're concerned. We're not concerned. We know we can play a lot better. We have another opportunity to take a commanding lead on Tuesday. You relish that opportunity."

Here are six other observations from Game 3.

53: Lakers bench points. LA’s starters were bad—other than James. The Lakers bench out-scored its starters and Los Angeles isn’t going to win very many games when that’s the case.

The experts didn’t think Miami would have any chance in this one. That’s why they made the Heat 9-point underdogs Sunday.

But the experts don’t always get it right and the Heat pulled off the second biggest upset (according to Las Vegas) in NBA Finals history over the last 30 seasons. Only the Sixers pulled off a bigger one and that happened in the 2001 Finals when they were 12-point underdogs in Game 1 against the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant-led Lakers. That was the night, of course, that Allen Iverson went off for an absurd 48 points and gave us the iconic step-over over Ty Lue. Butler wasn't quite AI-level in Game 3, but he was pretty close. That was AI's masterpiece and Sunday will probably end of being Jimmy's.

Also of note: The Lakers won that series over the overmatched Sixers in five games.

Bam Adebayo was once again a scratch for the Heat Sunday. His unspecified shoulder/neck injury didn’t improve enough for the Heat forward to see any action, despite reports that he planned to be available. In a sign that maybe he could return should the series extend past the minimum four games, Adebayo was spotted getting shots up before Game 3. However, Spoelstra said the Heat will continue to protect the player from himself—he called it “the most responsible thing to do right now”—even though Adebayo’s energy and production are sorely missed.

“I know how much that this means to him and I know how much he wants to be out there,” Spoelstra said before the game. “This is one of the most difficult decisions that I've had to make with the trainers and with Pat [Riley] and everybody, but it's the most responsible thing. And then we'll just continue to re-evaluate him.”

Miami was leaving open the door for Adebayo to return later in the series should the Heat make it competitive.

"We need those guys, we want those guys out there with us," Butler said. "But it's just bigger than basketball. We want them to have a long career and whenever they do get back in this series we want them to be ready to go."

Spoelstra had no update on Goran Dragic (torn plantar), who was also scratched for a second straight contest and it appears highly unlikely Dragic returns for Game 4.

Idiotically, there’s a petition circulating around the interwebs from a few Lakers fans who don’t want the organization to hand out a championship ring to Kyle Kuzma when LA inevitably closes out the series.

True, Kuzma has not blossomed into the third scoring option the Lakers and purple and gold supporters expected this season. He often makes some ridiculous and/or boneheaded plays (like that phantom no-look, behind-the-head pass in Game 2), and there’s some glarring holes (like defense) in the 25-year-old’s game. All that said, he obviously and absolutely deserves championship jewelry should the Lakers close out the series. However, he 1,000,000 percent deserves to be roasted for leaving AD hanging in the first quarter.

He won’t be bothered hearing the nickname he detests after a forgettable performance in Game 3 since Rajon Rondo did not morph into “Playoff Rondo.” And LA could've really used him Sunday. The Lakers reserve only mustered 4 points while adding 8 boards and 5 assists in 27 minutes of action. But know that as much as Rondo hates the nickname, his coach can't stand it, either.

“I personally don't really like the 'Playoff Rondo' thing because I think it implies that he's not good in the regular season, and he's been good for us all year,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said before the game. “Obviously, the great players are going to play their best in the playoffs. That's no different with Rondo, but like I said, he's been consistent and really good for us all year.”

At 34, Rondo is on the old side, but still has something left in his tank in his 14th season. You’d think he and Los Angeles would have mutual interest in running it back for a third season (Rondo can exercise a $2.6 million player option) since James loves playing with veterans, Rondo’s found a nice home with the Lakers, and we all know he ain’t signing with a squad that has zero chance to make the playoffs unless they offered him the supermax (which nobody, of course, is).

But when it’s all said and done for Rondo, it sounds like he has a future in coaching since he’s already shown an impressive aptitude. While Rondo was nursing himself back to health earlier in the postseason, Vogel welcomed the savvy point guard into the daily assistant coach meetings and Rondo made an impression.

“He spends as much time watching tape, studying scouting reports as the coaches do if not more. It's impressive. It's fun,” Vogel said. “It's why we included him in our coaching staff meetings. He was an equal voice with all of our assistant coaches. I did fire him from the meetings when he came back from being injured and was a healthy player just to keep that proper separation.”