Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler Will Deal With Fatigue Once the NBA Finals are Done

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler say he needs to play like Friday night the remainder of the NBA Finals
Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler Will Deal With Fatigue Once the NBA Finals are Done
Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler Will Deal With Fatigue Once the NBA Finals are Done /

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler can get all the rest he wants when the NBA season concludes.

Right now, he is focused on exerting much energy as possible to keep the Heat afloat against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. Butler recorded his second triple-double of the series Friday in Game 5 while playing 47 minutes.

After the performance, Butler looked exhausted.

"Nothing," Butler said when asked was left in his tank. "I left it all out there on the floor along with my guys. That's how we're going to have to play from here on out. This is the position that we're in. We like it this way. We got two more in a row to get."

The Heat staved off elimination behind an epic effort by Butler. He finished with 35 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals, outdueling Lakers forward LeBron James in the closing minutes.

"To do that in 47-plus minutes and take the challenge on the other end," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Every young player coming into this league should study footage on Jimmy Butler, the definition of a two-way player competing on both ends, five steals and then making big plays down the stretch offensively."

The Heat trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series heading into Sunday's Game 6 in Orlando. The odds remain against the Heat but they won't fail because a lack of effort.

"That's Jimmy Butler," center Bam Adebayo said. "That's our max player. That's who we go to in these moments. He's been producing. We just got to keep contributing the best way that we can and let him take over the show."

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here