Mateo’s Hoop Diary: One of Jimmy Butler’s Best Seasons

The Heat held off the Mavericks Saturday in Miami, earning the 41st dub of the season with four games left.

In the first half, the Heatles climbed to an 18-point lead, but the Mavs slowly chopped away at it in the last 24 minutes, cutting it to six in the third quarter. Luka Dončić played the second half uninterrupted and scored 19 points on seven out of 11 shots.

Jimmy Butler had 16 points in the first quarter, tied for the sixth most in his career. He followed up after intermission with 13 points, five dimes, two boards and a steal. On one play, he dusted Dončić while maneuvering around the baseline. This forced Dwight Powell, the low man, to help and leave Cody Zeller under the rim. As soon as the double came, Butler bounced-passed to the “Big Handsome” for a jam.

Zeller received two more of JB’s assists in the second half, both coming from Dallas sending two at the ball handler on pick and roll. At the postgame presser, Jimmy said his duo with Cody was like “Black Man and Robin.”

Coach Erik Spoelstra praised Kevin Love for balling off the bench, plus Zeller as well for consistently getting open while filling in for Bam Adebayo.

“Cody and Kevin gave us an incredible boost,” Spo said. “Both of them in opposite ways. Cody was getting behind the defense, finding all those gaps for those finishes around the rim… And then Kevin. I just can’t say enough about his professionalism. With [Adebayo] out, this team is super small with a lot of different shooting. We went with a different starting lineup.”

Minus Miami’s starting center, the group gave up 54 interior points out of 122. Typically for the season, the Heat allows opponents just 46.1 points in the paint, good enough for second in the league in the stat behind the New York Knicks.

The Heat has struggled to contain the point of attack, and Saturday was no different against two of the NBA’s premier guards. Dončić and Kyrie Irving shed the outside protection and got into the lane for a combined 26 of Dallas’ 30 paint points in the first half.

Fortunately for Miami, its offense showed up, but it was only the 18th time this season it has logged at least 50% of its field goal attempts. The team’s record in those games is 14-4.

The Heat got to the line and converted 26 out of 29 free throws. The hosts were able to cut the clock and give its defense a breather before going back to a half-court game.

The win brought Miami back to within a match-and-a-half behind the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets, but with fewer than a handful of nights left, it will assuredly enter the Play-In Tournament. Unless it wins out the rest of the calendar and gets lucky with a few Nets losses. As the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang pointed out, groups that come out of the play-in meet the end in round one.

Short history and the eye test indicate the Heat’s fate will likely be that. Through a wide lens, it would mean a lost season in year 35 for the organization. The toughest pill to swallow is that it happened in arguably Butler’s finest season as a pro.

At 33, he can get to the charity line as easily as ever. On Jan. 10, the Oklahoma City Thunder came into Miami and couldn’t defend him without illegal contact. He made all 23 attempts, tying Dwyane Wade’s team record of most made freebies set on Feb.1, 2007, against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Butler’s production that night also propelled the Heat to break the threshold for an NBA record. Miami made 40 free throws without a miss. The record stood at 39 since 1982, logged by the Utah Jazz.

Pat Riley has nearly served three decades as patrón (28). In that span that has delivered three championships in six tries, there’s been two 60-win seasons, 12 with the equivalent of at least 50, nine within 40-49 wins, three ending in the 30-39 win range, and one with 25 dubs and 15 for the worst year under the Godfather’s rule.

This season has been one of the most frustrating for observers, but these things happen, even to the top outfits. No one can stay on top for long.

Internal growth from Adebayo and Tyler Herro hasn’t sufficed in covering the holes. It’s not their fault, either. The team is not very talented from top to bottom. A reasonable person wouldn’t debate Adebayo, Butler and Herro as top three for the unit, but think of the next three and ask yourself: Is it enough to win a round?

This highlights how special of a season the last one was. That team went to Game 7 of the conference finals. The most significant change, aside from roles, injuries and Kyle Lowry’s decline at a 60-degree angle, was losing PJ Tucker to Philadelphia.

In the NBA, what was accomplished in past years doesn’t count for anything when trying to hold off elimination. The best thing about what’s dead and buried are the memories left behind.

The 2022/2023 campaign is the singular year Butler has logged at least 50% of his field goals (53.4%), and it’s had his second-highest scoring average, too (22.8). This will be the ninth season he finishes with more steals than personal fouls. With four games left, he has 34 more takeaways than penalties.

With league awards coming up, it would be a colossal oversight if Butler wasn’t named to an All-NBA team. Only two forwards have recorded more free throws: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum.

This year, 27 All-Stars were named to the antiquated exhibition, and Butler wasn’t one of them. He’s played in more games than 13 of the ones chosen. The last time he was picked for Third-Team was in 2020/2021 when he played in 70.8% of the games. If he sits the rest of the way, he will have performed in three-quarters of the schedule.

A win against a below. 500 team with the Playoffs looming is not enough to convince me the year hasn’t gone up in flames. If it’s remembered for anything, it should be for Butler’s mastery.

Waiting to see if he gets shafted by the voters, the Draft, and Dwyane Wade’s Hall of Fame ceremony on Aug. 12 is all supporters have to look forward to in the near future.