Butler puts up 56 as Heat put Bucks on brink

MIAMI — Jimmy Butler has heard the nickname before. He smiled and shook his head during his postgame news conference Monday night at the mention of the moniker “Playoff Jimmy.”

“It’s not a thing,” he said with a laugh following the Miami Heat‘s 119-114 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. “It’s not. I just be hooping.”

Yet, Butler’s 56-point masterpiece is making it impossible to deny his playoff excellence. Butler matched the fourth-best scoring performance in an NBA playoff game to lead the Heat back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit, stun the Bucks and push the NBA’s top overall seed to the brink of elimination.

The Heat took a 3-1 series lead on the performance from Butler, who set a career high in scoring in the regular season or playoffs and put up the first 50-point playoff game since Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals.

“I love the competitive aspect of [the playoffs],” Butler said. “This is where all the best players, they show up and they show out. I’m not saying I’m one of those best players; I just want to be looked at as such.

“I want to do everything for my team to win, along with everybody on this roster. I think [team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra] wanted me here for a reason. I feel like this is part of that reason.”

Butler might not want to accept the nickname, but he continues to elevate his game in the postseason. After averaging 22.9 points during the regular season, he is now the NBA’s leading scorer, averaging 36.5 points in the postseason.

On Monday, Butler finished 19-of-28 from the field (3-of-8 on 3s) and 15-of-18 from the free throw line and added nine rebounds.

The only players to score more in a playoff game: Michael Jordan scored 63 in 1986, Elgin Baylor scored 61 in 1962 and Donovan Mitchell put up 57 in 2020. Butler tied Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Charles Barkley with the fourth-highest total at 56.

The Heat trailed 101-89 with 6:08 remaining in the fourth quarter before outscoring the Bucks 30-13 over the rest of the game. Miami went 8-for-9 from the field from that point, while Butler scored or assisted on 22 of the final 30 points. In clutch time — the last five minutes of the game when the score is within five points — Butler outscored the Bucks alone 13-8.

Butler also turned up the intensity defensively. In Game 4, the Bucks were 1-of-8 (13%) when Butler contested their shot, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

“For 40 minutes of this game, it was frustrating. … It just shows you that when you have the right grit and perseverance, you can win,” Spoelstra said. “And then it always helps to have a guy like him.”

The Heat entered the game short-handed after injuries to guards Tyler Herro (hand) and Victor Oladipo (knee) depleted their backcourt depth through the series.

However, Butler set the tone for Miami from the opening tip. He scored 22 of Miami’s 28 first-quarter points, including a streak of 20 in a row during the final six minutes of the period. Butler followed that up with 32 points in the second half, including 21 points in the fourth quarter to pull off the massive comeback.

Milwaukee exhausted its options defensively to try to slow Butler down, but he scored against seven different primary defenders, which included hitting 16 of 21 (76%) contested shots, per ESPN Stats & Info data.

“When he gets in that zone, he’s just such a killer,” Heat forward Kevin Love said. “Lions like to hunt, man. They make their kill, and they keep hunting. That’s what he does. He’s got a huge heart. He wants to see us win. He doesn’t want to make it about him; he just wants to go out there and get the job done.”

Butler’s dominance overshadowed the return of Antetokounmpo, who started Game 4 after missing the previous two contests with a lower back contusion. Antetokounmpo did his part with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, but the Bucks became just the fifth No. 1 seed to trail 3-1 against a No. 8 seed since the first round expanded to a best-of-seven format in 2003. Only one of those teams (the 2003 Detroit Pistons) came back to win the series.

“The series is still going,” Spoelstra said. “And we have great respect for the championship DNA that group has.”

That’s why, despite the way Butler rewrote Miami’s record books on Monday, Spoelstra was not ready to rate Butler’s performance just yet. The Heat took a 3-1 lead over the team with the best record in the NBA this season, and now Miami’s focus shifts to trying to close out the Bucks and complete a first-round upset.

“I don’t think Jimmy would want me up here ranking this performance or anything,” Spoelstra said. “He’s not relaxing. He understands what we still have to do, and he understands who we’re facing. We still have to find a way to get the job done.”