Jimmy Butler's incredible Game 3 felt almost identical to LeBron's 2015 NBA Finals performance against the Golden State Warriors.
The Miami Heat came out with a fire against the Los Angeles Lakers that burnt out almost instantly once Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic exited the court with potentially season-ending injuries in Game 1. But veteran forward Jimmy Butler lit it back up in Game 3 in one of the greatest Finals performances to date.
While the odds still aren’t great for the Heat to pull off a ring with Adebayo and Dragic out—the two averaged roughly 38 points combined during the playoffs—the Lakers cannot take away Butler’s Game 3 performance. With his back against the wall, Butler displayed immense resilience in competing against LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers power duo combined for 65 points in Game 2 to take a 2–0 lead on the Heat, but Butler answered last night. Butler scored 40 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 13 assists to give the Heat a win and the momentum they needed to carry on. Not only that, but he scored or assisted on 73 points, which ties for the second-most in an NBA Finals game in league history.
As Butler put up incredible numbers, his drive and overall game circumstances felt almost identical to James’ 2015 NBA Finals Game 2 performance against the Golden State Warriors.
James’s and Butler’s relentless grit mirror each other in more ways than one when they’re carrying a team on their backs. Whether their momentum is stifled due to teammate injuries or due to getting caught up when driving to the paint through traffic, the two have resilience and craftiness that go unmatched.
James finished that game against the Warriors in 2015 with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Cavaliers to a 95-93 overtime win at Oracle Arena. And just like Butler, he did so without two key players. While Kyrie Irving faced a devastating season-ending knee injury in Game 1 and Kevin Love was recovering from shoulder surgery, James went hard in the paint as he attacked the rim and got creative among double teams.
In fact, the power forward got by defensive powerhouse Draymond Green with ease, just as Butler did against James Sunday night.
Take a look at James whizzing past Green for a baseline drive to the basket—going up for a layup with his left and then switching mid-air to his right to bank it in:
Now take a look at Butler, not driving baseline but driving into the key while also switching hands mid-air to hit a floater near the end of Game 3:
Butler and James have the creativity and persistence to get the job done when they’re impeded in more ways than one. The two have an ability to stay composed not just mentally physically among the powerhouse defenses of both the 2015 Warriors and the 2020 Lakers.
Not only did they both put up big numbers when comparing these finals performances, but they carried themselves with a similar sense of confidence and composure that willed their undermanned teams to obtain much-needed wins. In fact, the two NBA veterans both refused to allow their teams to garner sympathy by rejecting the “underdog” label the media threw at them.
“I would never be an underdog … I think we have a great chance. That’s what we’re here for,” James said in 2015.
Butler echoed a similar statement in the NBA Finals media day last week. “Not going to say that we’re any better than anybody else, but I just don’t think that we’re underdogs. I don’t.”
By negating the underdog statement, James approached the 2015 Finals with the sole mentality to get a ring rather than to disprove a characterization. After clinching Game 2 against the Warriors, he became the second player in NBA history to record a 40+ point triple double in the NBA Finals by Game 5.
Following suit, Butler got right up on his heels last night. He became the third player to do so and accomplished it with zero three point attempts.
While Butler had that same mentality and brute force as James, his prior matchups and defeats clearly motivated him to outperform the best player in his generation.
Take a look back to the 2015 Playoffs yet again, but this time to the Eastern Conference finals. James hit a buzzer beater over Butler to clinch the game and eventually the title against Butler and the Chicago Bulls.
“LeBron has got the best of me way too many times,” Butler said in a post-game press conference last night. “I respect the guy for it, but this is a different time now… we’re here to win, we’re here to compete, but we’re not going to lay down.”
Butler became the first player in NBA history to outmatch the best player in the world last night as he outscored, outrebounded and out-assisted James. Though, despite Butler’s accomplishing this feat, the Lakers are still the favorite to win the 2020 Finals. So were the Warriors in 2015, and James still went toe-to-toe with the best of the best and made an impact. That’s what is so incredible about both James and Butler: Their unrelenting grit and resilience when faced with adversity, and that’s when they pull out performances that will forever be remembered in NBA history.