- Shaquille O’Neal leaves Bam Adebayo off of his All-Star reserve ballot
- NBA executives believe the Miami Heat may not be willing to part with Caleb Martin for Cam Reddish
- Report: Miami Heat not willing to offer Caleb Martin to Phoenix Suns for Jae Crowder
- Report: Miami Heat interested in adding help at guard
- Report: Heat, Suns, Mavericks and Clippers interested in D’Angelo Russell
- Bam Adebayo slams All-Star voting: ‘There are guys that shouldn’t even be on that list’
- Pat Riley says he still roots for LeBron James
- Report: Miami Heat expected to show ‘some interest’ in Josh Hart
- Report: Los Angeles Clippers have ‘some interest’ in Kyle Lowry
- Report: Gabe Vincent expected to draw interest in free agency this summer
Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra on Why Jimmy Butler Wasn’t in at End of 4th Quarter of Game 3
- Updated: September 19, 2020
In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat fell behind by double digits yet again to the Boston Celtics.
In crunch time, the Heat mounted a rally to give themselves a chance of going up 3-0, but Jimmy Butler wasn’t on the court as the contest was being decided.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra explained why he made the decision to take the five-time All-Star out in crunch time.
On not playing Jimmy Butler near the end of the game, Erik Spoelstra said there was no injury. Spoelstra said: "We were just trying to get something quick right there at the end."
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) September 20, 2020
After trailing 63-50 at halftime, the Heat saw their deficit grow to 20 in the fourth quarter.
With the game seemingly out of reach, Miami was able to pull to within 109-104 with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter.
It was shortly afterward, however, that Spoelstra decided to pull Butler from the game, leading some to wonder if the swingman had suffered a minor injury.
The Marquette University product had a decent game with 17 points, but he didn’t dominate in crunch time on Saturday the way he has in several recent playoff games.
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