Jimmy Butler back from injury, leading Heat to playoff wins: ‘It’s an amazing thing to watch’

The Miami Heat is better when Jimmy Butler is on the court. That obvious statement has been on display pretty much since Butler joined the Heat in the summer of 2019.

The value and importance of Butler’s greatness is felt when he’s not on the court because of what the Heat is missing but also when he is on the court because of the all-around impact he makes.

The eighth-seeded Heat felt both sides of the Butler effect in the last two games, dropping Game 2 of its second-round playoff series against the fifth-seeded New York Knicks on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden with Butler unavailable because of a sprained right ankle but then cruising to a 105-86 win over the Knicks in Game 3 of the series on Saturday at Kaseya Center in Butler’s return from injury.

Butler continued his incredible postseason, finishing Game 3 with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-21 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 shooting from the foul line to go with four rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 36 minutes to lead the Heat to a 2-1 series lead over the Knicks. The Heat will try to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in Game 4 on Monday in Miami (7:30 p.m., TNT).

“He’s one of the best players in the world, of course it helps,” Heat guard Gabe Vincent said when asked if Butler’s return provided a boost on Saturday.

Heat forward Max Strus added: “He’s been the best player in the world lately. Having him always helps and we just feed off of everything that he gives us.”

Butler sprained his right ankle late in the Heat’s Game 1 win in New York a week ago and sat out Game 2 on Tuesday before returning to play on Saturday. His ankle still isn’t 100 percent, but he battled through any lingering effects from the injury to close Game 3 with 12 points in the paint and 10 points at the foul line while also limiting those he guarded to 3-of-12 shooting from the field, according to NBA tracking stats.

After opening the series as Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson’s primary defender, the Heat moved Butler to play as Knicks forward RJ Barrett’s primary defender for most of Game 3 so he could serve as more of an off-ball help defender on New York’s relentless paint attacks.

“You can’t put an analytic to it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler’s presence. “It’s just the overall confidence level your team has that you can always get the ball to him and know that we’ll get something efficient and coherent.”

After the Heat’s Game 3 win, Butler said his ankle was “alright.”

“A lot of recovery and making sure that I can move went into it for sure,” Butler said of the work he put in behind the scenes to make sure he only would need to miss one game after turning his ankle in the series-opener. “But I got a great team behind me that people don’t see that’s always there for me and making sure I have everything I need when I’m off the floor to recover.”

There was one scary moment for Butler and the Heat on Saturday, though. He came up hobbling after falling down on a drive to the basket in the third quarter, but he was able to stay in the game to play the rest of the period.

During an in-game interview on the ABC broadcast ahead of the fourth quarter, Spoelstra said Butler hurt his thigh on the play.

After starting the fourth quarter on the bench, Butler was able to re-enter the the game with 5:19 left in the fourth quarter when the Knicks cut the deficit to 14. He seemed unaffected by the injury, scoring four points and dishing out an assist to help seal the victory before heading back to the bench for good with 1:45 to play and the Heat’s lead at 16 points.

“He’s fine,” Spoelstra said after the game when asked about Butler’s thigh ailment. “He’s not even icing that part of it. It was like one of those stingers that you just need like three plays and then it wears off. He could have gone back in earlier. He even told me, he said: ‘If this thing gets to whatever, put me back in there.’”

While still very effective, Butler wasn’t as efficient as usual in Game 3 as the Knicks usually sent extra defenders his way whenever he drove into the paint or settled into a post-up. He shot just 4 of 12 (33.3 percent) on jump shots and 2 of 6 (33.3 percent) on layups, noting that he “was definitely out of rhythm” after not playing in a game in a week.

But Butler still nearly finished with 30 points on Saturday in his return, continuing his eye-opening playoff run. He’s averaging 34.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 56.4 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range in seven games in this year’s playoffs.

Butler is on pace to do something not many players have done before. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (did it in 1970 and 1977), Bernard King (1984) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1988) are the only players in NBA history who have closed a playoff run averaging more than 34 points per game on better than 55 percent shooting from the field.

“It reminds me of another player that I played with for several years,” Heat veteran Kevin Love said, referring to former teammate LeBron James. “It’s an amazing thing to watch. He leads us, he sets the tone for us every single night. It’s just a beautiful thing to be a part of.”

Butler has the Heat two wins away from becoming just the second No. 8 seed to make it to the conference finals since the current 16-team NBA playoff format was instituted for the 1983-84 season. The Heat is also just two wins away from advancing to the conference finals for the third time in Butler’s four seasons with the organization.

As long as Butler is healthy and on the court, the Heat has a chance to make a deep playoff run. That’s another statement that has become obvious in recent years.

“I’m just comfortable, I’m confident,” Butler said. “I work extremely hard at my craft and I’m very grateful to play for an organization and a city like Miami.”