The Miami Heat kept its season alive thanks to another gem from Jimmy Butler in Game 5 to extend the NBA Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers. Game 6 is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET tip-off in the Orlando bubble.
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Heat +5.5 (-106) vs. Lakers
Butler played a once-in-a-lifetime game for the second time this series to carry the Heat to the 111-108 win. Butler’s 35-point triple-double, along with five steals, and 12-of-12 from the charity stripe was done mostly against LeBron and Anthony Davis. What seems a little off about the Lakers is AD’s passiveness in the Finals.
AD scored 28 points and 12 rebounds in Game 5 and his series averages are great—26.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game on .605% field goal and .500% three-point shooting. But in Game 5, AD took as many shots as SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope despite playing 11 more minutes.
The only rationale for this is AD is playing through injury and cannot assume more responsibility in the offense. AD has been in the injury report with a heel contusion and has been dinged up several times throughout the series.
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In fact, the Lakers, as a team, are wearing down as the season concludes with LeBron and Danny Green also nursing injuries. Now that we are in a clinching scenario, the supporting cast of the Lakers will need to be less relied upon.
Miami made a very important adjustment from Game 4 to 5 that Los Angeles may have to follow in suit. The Heat shortened its rotation to just seven players making the game plan simple. Butler is the creator and his teammates are ready to catch and shoot based on the attention he draws. SG Duncan Robinson stepped up in Game 5—26 points and 5 rebounds on 7-of-13 three-point shooting—and they have shooters on deck who all can get hot.
The Lakers on the other hand are still running SF Kyle Kuzma and SF Markieff Morris out there for 20-plus minutes. Also, the Lakers bench only scored a combined 14 points and were minus-38 in the +/-.
I could see the Lakers pulling out this game but I like the Heat’s intensity, self-awareness and role players more than Los Angeles. The value of HEAT +5.5 (-106) is too good to pass up.
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