October 30, 2017
The Timberwolves only matched up with Miami twice last season; once in South Florida at the end of October, and the other back in Minnesota, in November. They split the series 1-1, with the Timberwolves first taking an 125-122 win over the Heat, and then Miami coming out on top 109-97.
While Butler didn’t have showstopping performances in either contest, he did show how versatile he can be, on October 30.
He totaled 16 points in 40 minutes, while shooting 5-for-13 from the field, as well as five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
In other words, he aided his team in their victory by doing a little bit of everything.
Jeff Teague finished with 23 points, while Andrew Wiggins had 22 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 20 points.
Meanwhile, the Heat were led by Dion Waiters, who scored 33 points on 14-for-28 shooting from the floor, while Adebayo recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Butler averaged 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.0 steals a game last year, seeing time in 59 contests, for an average of 36.7 minutes. Minnesota finished the season at 47-35, just making it into the 2018 NBA Playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
The season prior, they went just 31-51, coming in at thirteenth in the West.
As for Miami, they were 44-38 in 2017-18 play, seeding sixth in the Eastern Conference before falling short 4-1 to the Philadelphia 76ers, in the first round of the playoffs.
With the 2018-19 NBA season tipping off tomorrow, for now, it appears as though Butler will continue forward as a member of the Timberwolves.
But unless he joins the team, regardless of where he ends up in the future, it’s safe to say he’ll always play hard against the Miami Heat.