Dwight Howard avoids ejection for hard foul on Jimmy Butler

Dwight Howard hit Jimmy Butler in the head on a block attempt but remained in the game.

The Lakers had no answer for Jimmy Butler on Friday night in Game 5 of the NBA Playoffs. With the Heat facing elimination, Butler was phenomenal, nearly recording a triple-double (27-10-9) within the first three quarters of the game.

A controversial play in the third quarter could have changed the game for the Heat, as Dwight Howard faced a possible ejection from the game based on the officials’ interpretation of his hard contact with Butler.

Butler went up for a rebound and putback of a shot that deflected off the rim, and as he gained possession of the ball, Howard swung his arm for a block and struck Butler in the side of the head. Butler hit the floor and held his head, and as basketball Twitter debated whether Howard deserved a flagrant-2 foul for the contact, ABC went to commercial. When the broadcast resumed, Mike Breen revealed that Howard was given a flagrant-1 foul, which kept him in the game.

Howard and Butler came together early in the first quarter, and were assessed double technical fouls for an incident under the bucket.

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