Jimmy Butler Stats Tonight: How did Heat star fare against Detroit Pistons? (Dec. 16)
Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat visited the Detroit Pistons on Monday, their third meeting of the season. Butler and Co. hoped to take a 2-1 series lead with a win and extend their winning run to five.
The six-time All-Star had an impressive start, finishing the first quarter with seven points, four assists and one steal. Butler and Bam Adebayo carried the Heat in the period to trail 33-32 after the first 12 minutes ended.
The Heat trailed by as many as 15 points but rallied to close the gap to 63-59 behind Jimmy Butler. He was all over the floor for Miami and finished the first half with 21 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
After a sizzling first half, Butler was limited to five third-quarter points as the Pistons clamped down defensively. Detroit pushed its lead to 97-81 entering the fourth quarter.
Jimmy Buckets had three points and a couple of assists in the final period as the Heat rallied to force overtime. Butler's assist to Tyler Herro with 5.0 seconds remaining led to a 3-pointer that tied the game at 114 apiece.
The Miami Heat continued to go to Jimmy Butler in overtime. He had four points and an assist but missed a potential go-ahead layup. Miami trailed 125-124 when Butler flubbed a close-range shot that would have given them the lead.
Jimmy Butler had his most impressive game of the season in Miami's loss to Detroit
Before Monday's loss to the Detroit Pistons, the most Jimmy Butler has scored this season was 33 points. He did it against the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 24 in the Miami Heat's 123-118 overtime loss.
Butler outdid himself in his latest game. He caused problems not just on the offensive end. The small forward had 19 points, seven coming from the offensive end. He also had four steals and one block to show his two-way brilliance.
The impressive display went down the drain as the Heat could not rally to beat their hosts on Sunday. Still, it was Butler's most impressive of the season.