Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat delayed its appearance. The NBA Finals are not over, not after Butler and the Heat pulled off a virtuoso performance in Game 5 on Friday night.
Butler had 35 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists, and the Heat watched Danny Green’s wide-open 3-pointer in the final seconds bounce off the rim on the way to beating Los Angeles 111-108 – cutting the Lakers’ lead in the title series to 3-2. Nunn had 14 points, Bam Adebayo 13, Tyler Herro 12, and Jae Crowder 11. The seventh player, Andre Iguodala, didn’t score.
They had enough.
LeBron James had 40 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists for the Lakers. Anthony Davis scored 28 points, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 16. The Lakers were seconds away from the title before the Heat rallied to save the season.
Los Angeles broke out all the stops: Davis had shiny gold sneakers on, the hue similar to the Larry O’Brien Trophy, and the team made the decision earlier in the week to skip on the scheduled purple uniforms and wear the black ones designed and inspired by Kobe Bryant instead.
This video shows the NBA players reaction to the East’s number five seed Heat beating the West’s number one seed Lakers in Game 5 to stave off elimination. Game 6 is Sunday night:
