About that Butler 3 pointer at the end of G7...

[Birdman]

I would done same thing..wide open 3

[RockinRyA]

I honestly thought it was an incredibly dumb shot when he took it. I realized it could go in, but that is not his game. He bailed us out with that shot. He is not a pull up off the dribble three point shooter and he got caught up in the moment

I suspect he didn’t want OT

Yeah same. He was dead tired, ot wouldve been killer

[pokeKingCurtis]

I wasn't able to watch (I know, I suck), but Jimmy Butler was like the only player who was any good on the Heat.

[pearljammer10]

I would done same thing..wide open 3

If he attacked the basket he probably would have gotten three points anyway. Butler was full head of steam, Horford back pedaling, and the paint wide open.

I’ll take the shot though, as that clinched our finals birth.

[nebist]

So happy it missed, but I was 1000% sure it was going in as he pulled up considering how we were in full meltdown mode.

[ozgod]

Would've sucked the life out of all of us. Smart would have immediately been on the trading block. Somebody would've been fired. Idk lol

There would have been calls for Ime to be fired, for the team to be blown up because they were a bunch of gutless chokers…all on the basis of one shot. A true sliding doors moment. But because it missed the team is feted as heroes and rightfully so. Goes to show how small the margins are in this game. And how much winning matters 

[Roy H.]

At the time, I assumed he would drive on Al, and the game would be tied up.  When he pulled up I was definitely worried.

[celticinorlando]

Right shot. Miami was out if gas.

[scaryjerry]

Right shot. Miami was out if gas.

Respect him taking the shot but absolutely wasn’t the right shot, as others have said if he drives it’s likely an and 1

[Rhyso]

Considering it was a pull up shot and he was gassed, I assumed the forward momentum would have compensated for his lack of lift from his legs and it would go in. If he had 2 mins of rest in the game, I believe the shot goes in.

[mqtcelticsfan]

It wasn’t some sort of insanely bad decision, but I think it was the wrong one for the situation. Down 2 with 18 seconds on the clock, I’m not sure shooting a shot you’re not very good at is the optimal play. However, any time you can get a makable open look in a one possession game, it makes at least some sense to let it fly.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

Right shot. Miami was out if gas.

Respect him taking the shot but absolutely wasn’t the right shot, as others have said if he drives it’s likely an and 1

He front-rimmed it. It was somewhat close. If Butler hits that shot, it is one of the biggest daggers I've seen. We're only talking about it as a mistake since he missed it.

[scaryjerry]

Right shot. Miami was out if gas.

Respect him taking the shot but absolutely wasn’t the right shot, as others have said if he drives it’s likely an and 1

He front-rimmed it. It was somewhat close. If Butler hits that shot, it is one of the biggest daggers I've seen. We're only talking about it as a mistake since he missed it.

Yeah I’m not really arguing that, I said I respect him for taking it, just don’t think it was the “right” shot

[Damiano Brancopreto]

He is a champion and probably he felt that he should take that shot. Considering that the officers from my personal point of view were by far officiating on Miami's favour (2 or 3 charges that Lowry took were his foul instead + some ridicolous charge called to JB + some other missed call on JT), maybe a drive against Horford would have led to a foul. But this would have meant (in case of 2/2 from the line) final C's possession with 18 seconds on the clock with the game tied. If the 3 points shoot goes in, C's still have the final possession but trailing by 1 which would have been a completely different story....
If I am a Miami fan, I don't blame him for the decision he took...
Side note 1: on our side, Smart made everything he could to lose the game apart from the free throws...why Ime didn't put White in???
Side note 2: is it just me or 80% of  the screens set by adebayo are offensive fouls???

[hwangjini_1]

Right shot. Miami was out if gas.

Respect him taking the shot but absolutely wasn’t the right shot, as others have said if he drives it’s likely an and 1

i understand your point and you may be correct. however, i am not sure a basket-and-1 would have resulted from Butler driving on Al.

1. the refs had eaten their whistles for the past 2-3 minutes. indeed, earlier Al had hammered a heat player under the basket and HE thought he had committed a foul. but no call was made. the refs seemed to want to let the players play.

2. after playing 48 minutes of a 48 minute game a butler drive is not the sure thing we might expect from butler. he might have missed since al would have made the shot a tough one.

3. Al might have simply wrapped up butler and given him 2 foul shots. let the heat tie the game. celtics would have had the final shot. and if the celtics failed to score the completely-gassed heat team would have had a hard time in OT.

i believe it was a bad shot for someone who is a poor 3 point shooting and is exhausted. a pass to someone else might have been the better play. but i understand his choice too.

MAYBE no one else was in a good position and the heat had no timeouts and little time to set up a play. okay i get it.

Butler may have calculated that a tie was not good enough since overtime would have favored the celtics most certainly. so, butler takes what he thinks is probably the best shot available to win the game in regulation.