Jimmy Butler had a terrific game on Sunday night when he gave his Miami Heat the first win of the Finals thanks to an incredible performance that put him among elite names. Butler finished the game with a triple-double but not a ‘regular’ one; he unleashed all his power and dropped 40 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in the Heat’s victory.
Jimmy Butler joined Dwyane Wade (8), LeBron James (5), and Mario Chalmers (1) as the only Heat players to score 19+ points in a Finals half.
It's the first time in Butler's postseason career that he's recorded at least 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a half pic.twitter.com/TGeRX9XJP3
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) October 5, 2020
In doing so, Jimmy became the first player to outscore, outrebound and out-assist LeBron James in a Finals game. Bron’s teammates included, nobody was able to do that before Sunday night when Jimmy went full beast mode and dominated the King and his Lakers.
Jimmy Butler is the first player to outscore, outrebound and out-assist LeBron James in a Finals game, including LeBron's teammates. Via Elias.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) October 5, 2020
Curiously, Jimmy joined LeBron and Jerry West as the only three players to have a 40+ pt triple-double in the Finals.
In Game 5, LBJ (40-14-11) joined Jerry West as only two players to record 40+ pt triple-doubles in the Finals:
West: 42-13-12 on 05/05/69
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) June 15, 2015
It was definitely a terrific night for Jimmy; he also became the first person in Finals history to have a 40-point triple-double while shooting 70% from the field. Only Charles Barkley (Conference Finals), Chris Webber, Magic Johnson, and Wilt Chamberlain achieved this feat before (regular season).
No LeBron, no Oscar, no MJ, no Harden, no Westbrook.
This 40 points/triple-double/70% FG club is awfully exclusive. pic.twitter.com/hGPNi7KgdX
— Steve Aschburner (@AschNBA) October 5, 2020
To make things better, he did it without shooting a single 3-pointer, emulating what Shaquille O’Neal did in 2002.
Jimmy Butler is the first player with a 40-point Finals game without attempting a three since Shaquille O'Neal in 2002. @ESPNStatsInfo
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) October 5, 2020
LeBron finished the game with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. The King had a good game but he wasn’t as dominant as he was in the first two games. He left the game amid controversy and the Heat should expect a reloaded version of Bron after this match.
As for Butler, regardless of all the records he set and broke, his only goal is winning, as he said following the game.
“Win,” Butler said. “I don’t care about triple-doubles. I don’t care about none of that. I really don’t. I want to win. We did that. I’m happy with the outcome.”
Game 4 will take place on Tuesday night, with the Lakers hoping to win their third game of the series and the Heat trying to tie everything.
