Jimmy Butler was exhausted.
However, he had enough in the tank down the stretch to help the Miami Heat avoid elimination with a 111-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday near Orlando.
“I left it all out there on the floor along with my guys,” said Butler, who had 35 points on 11-of-19 shooting, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals in 47-plus minutes. “And that’s how we’re going to have to play from here on out. … But this is the position we’re in, we like it this way, (and) we’ve got two more to (win).”
Duncan Robinson scored 26 points, helping the Heat close their deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2. Kendrick Nunn chipped in 14 points, Bam Adebayo contributed 13, Tyler Herro had 12 points and Jae Crowder scored 11.