Behind a 40-point triple-double from Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 115-104 on Sunday to pull within 2-1 in the 2020 NBA Finals.
Let’s take a closer look at Miami’s win with a deep dive into the box score.
Traditional (View Stats)
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- Jimmy Butler became just the third player in NBA history to record a 40+ point triple-double in the NBA Finals, joining LeBron James in 2015 and Jerry West in 1969. Butler is the first to do so in a win. The full list:
• Jerry West: 1969 Finals, Game 7. LAL vs. BOS – 42 PTS, 13 REB, 12 AST
• LeBron James: 2015 NBA Finals, Game 5, CLE vs. GSW – 40 PTS, 14 REB, 11 AST
• Jimmy Butler: 2020 NBA Finals, Game 3, MIA vs. LAL – 40 PTS, 11 REB, 13 AST
- Jimmy Butler became just the third player in NBA history to record a 40+ point triple-double in the NBA Finals, joining LeBron James in 2015 and Jerry West in 1969. Butler is the first to do so in a win. The full list:
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- According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jimmy Butler’s 40-point triple-double on 70% shooting marked only the seventh such game in NBA history – regular season or playoffs – with Butler’s being the only one to occur in the NBA Finals. The full list:
• Jimmy Butler: 2020 NBA Finals
• Chris Webber: 1995 Regular Season
• Charles Barkley: 1993 Conference Finals
• Magic Johnson: 1981 Regular Season
• Wilt Chamberlain: 1968 Regular Season
• Wilt Chamberlain: 1967 Regular Season
• Wilt Chamberlain: 1966 Regular Season
- According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Jimmy Butler’s 40-point triple-double on 70% shooting marked only the seventh such game in NBA history – regular season or playoffs – with Butler’s being the only one to occur in the NBA Finals. The full list:
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- Through the first three quarters of Game 3, Tyler Herro had nine points on 3-13 (23.1%) FG and 1-5 (20%) 3P. In the fourth quarter, Herro scored eight points 3-5 (60%) FG and 1-2 (50%) 3P.
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- The Lakers took a 91-89 lead with 8:56 to play on a driving layup by Rajon Rondo. From that point on, the Heat outscored the Lakers 26-13 to close the game. During that stretch, the Heat shot 9-15 from the field, 3-5 from three and 5-5 from the free throw line, while the Lakers 4-13 FG, 2-8 3P and 3-4 FT. The top three scorers down the stretch were Jimmy Butler (10 points), Tyler Herro (8 points) and Kyle Kuzma (7 points).
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- Anthony Davis was limited to 33 minutes as he was mired in foul trouble for most of the night. He finished with 15 points on 6-9 FG, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and five turnovers. It is only the fifth time between the regular season and playoffs that Davis has finished with 15 points or less while playing at least 30 minutes. The Lakers are 2-3 in those games.
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- Kelly Olynyk had another strong performance off the Heat bench with 17 points, seven rebounds and two steals, while shooting 5-9 FG, 3-5 3P, 4-4 FT in 31 minutes. In the previous two series against Milwaukee and Boston, Olynyk played in eight of the 1l games and logged a total of 90 minutes. He’s already played 86 minutes in this series, with the Heat outscoring the Lakers by 10 points while he’s on court.
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- L.A.’s reserves outscored their starters 53-51 in Game 3. Miami’s starters outscored L.A.’s starters 89-51. L.A.’s starting five collectively outscored Jimmy Butler by only 11 points, with Butler matching LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ combined 40 points by himself
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- After the Lakers shot 33-50 (66.0%) on 2-point shots in Game 2, they shot just 20-37 (54.1%) on 2-point shots in Game 3.
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- The Heat outscored the Lakers by 27 points in the 39 minutes that Duncan Robinson was on the court – the highest plus/minus of any player in Game 3.
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- The Lakers committed 10 turnovers and were outscored 26-23 in the first quarter of Game 3. In this year’s playoffs, the Lakers are 11-0 when winning the first quarter, and are now 3-4 when losing the first quarter.
- With a team-high eight assists on Sunday, LeBron James passed John Stockton (1,839) to move into second place in career playoff assists. Only Magic Johnson (2,346) has more playoff assists than LeBron (1,846). LeBron also passed Bob Cousy for the second-most Finals assists (401) in league history; again trialing only Magic Johnson (584).
Advanced (View Stats)
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- Jimmy Butler posted a PIE rating of 28.9 in Game 3. It is the highest PIE recorded in an NBA Finals game since 2016 (LeBron 33.1, 32,2; Draymond Green 32.1; Stephen Curry 30.2). Note: PIE (Player Impact Estimate) measures a player’s overall statistical contribution against the total statistics in games they play in.
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- Game 3 was played at the fastest pace of the three games in this seres at 99.50 possessions per 48 minutes; following the slow-paced Game 2 at just 91.50 possessions per 48.
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- Meyers Leonard started his second straight game and finished with seven points, one rebound, one steal and two fouls in 13 minutes. In those minutes, the Heat outscored the Lakers by 13 points and posted a defensive rating of just 68.0 points per 100 possessions.
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- L.A.’s 20.0 turnover percentage matched their second-highest mark of the 2020 Playoffs and sixth highest any game in 2019-20. The Heat turned L.A.’s 20 turnovers in 21 points in Game 3, winning points off turnovers by four points.
- Miami’s 12.2 net rating was their second-highest mark of the 2020 Playoffs, trailing only Game 3 vs. Milwaukee on Sept. 4.
Miscellaneous (View Stats)
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- Per NBA.com’s John Schuhmann, Jimmy Butler’s 26 points in the paint were four more than he’s ever scored in a game before (654 career games). He’d only scored 20 or more points in the paint three times prior in his career.
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- In the first two games of The Finals, the Lakers had a 37-23 advantage in second-chance points. In Game 3, their advantage was only 6-5 despite Miami allowing 11 offensive rebounds to the Lakers.
- After losing the points in the paint battle 56-46 in Game 2 in the first game missed by Bam Adebayo, the Heat dominated points in the paint 52-34 in Game 3 with Adebayo still out.
Scoring (View Stats)
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- Jimmy Butler scored 85.7% of his field goal (12 of the 14) unassisted; that is the second-highest percentage he’s had in these playoffs after 100% of his buckets came unassisted in a Game 5 loss against Boston on Sept. 25.
- Anthony Davis accounted for just 26.7% of L.A.’s points in the paint while he was on the court in Game 3. In his brilliant Game 2 performance, Davis accounted for 68.8% of L.A.’s paint points while on the court.
Usage (View Stats)
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- Jimmy Butler posted a usage rate of 32.7% in Game 3; his third-highest usage rate of the playoffs. The Heat are 5-0 in the playoff when Butler has a usage rate greater than 30%. John Schuhmann has more on Butler’s control of the ball in Game 3.
- Jimmy Butler accounted for 34.8% of Miami’s points and 52.0% of Miami’s assists in his 45 minutes on the court in Game 3. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Butler scored or assisted on 73 points, which is tied for the second-most in an NBA Finals game in league history, trailing only Walt Frazier’s 74.
Four Factors (View Stats)
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- Los Angeles’ 51.9 effective field goal percentage in Game 3 was their third-lowest percentage of the playoffs; the Lakers have gone 0-3 with an eFG% below 52% and went 16-12 in the regular season in such games.
- Miami’s 58.8 effective field goal percentage in Game 3 was their third-highest percentage of the playoffs; the Heat are 3-1 during the playoffs with an eFG% over 58% and went 22-3 in the regular season in such games.
Hustle (View Stats)
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- After getting crushed on the glass in Game 1 (54-36), the Heat have kept the rebounding margin to seven or fewer in each of the past two games. A key to that has been their effort on box outs. In Game 3, the Heat had 11 box outs compared to just three for the Lakers.
- The Heat (12-34, 35.3%) finished slightly ahead of the Lakers (14-42, 33.3%) in 3-point accuracy in Game 3. Miami contested 17 of L.A.’s 42 3-point attempts (40.4%), while L.A. contested 11 of Miami’s 34 attempts (32.4%).
