Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler wins first Player Of The Week honor in Heat jersey

The bounce-back game:

After a day’s rest, it was back home to face the struggling yet deadly potent Washington Wizards. In the first half, the Miami Heat were participating in a shootout with Butler and Adebayo leading the way, combining for 30 of the team’s 61 points.

Rookie sensation Tyler Herro chipped in with 13 first-half points as well and this game was well on its way to 120 points apiece, a territory the Heat do not want to see themselves in. They decided to put the clamps on in the second half, holding Washington to just 38 points through the final two quarters.

Butler led the team in scoring through the second half and the team seemed to cruise to its 16th win of the season. Here was Jimmy Butler’s final line: 28 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, two blocks, and a steal. Can somebody say, Triple double alert!?

The free throw game:

Sunday night’s game against the eight-win Chicago Bulls with a day of rest in between should’ve been a routine cleanup duty for the Miami Heat, but for some reason, it wasn’t. The game was tightly contested throughout and yet again Miami got exactly what it paid for.

When the Heat’s shots weren’t falling, the game turned into a parade to the free through line for Jimmy Butler. He finished regulation with 21 tries at the charity stripe.

Heat fans haven’t seen a player attempt 21 free throws in a game in five years (almost to the day), since Dwyane Wade did it back on December 17th, 2014 in a loss to the Utah Jazz. For those wondering about how this game stacks up to others in Miami Heat history in terms of percentages when taking at least 21 attempts at the free-throw line, Jimmy Butler’s performance ranks 6th in percentage (81.0).

All five spots above him are held by Mr. 305 himself, Dwyane Wade. If you want to see the rest of the list, click here.

This is a game that surely last year’s heat team would’ve found a way to lose as well. This year however, this is where Jimmy Butler’s effect on a team shines through. That night, he crawled so that Tyler Herro could run.

Butler knew his shot wasn’t falling (3-14…Yikes), but like he’s said in the past, “There are more ways to win a basketball game.” That night he had seven assists and four of them were to Tyler Herro.

Sure the resident bucket may have saved the game with his spectacular shot-making, but it took a selfless superstar to build genuine trust with a rookie teammate in order for that shot to happen. When he says to Herro in practice and in-game huddles, “get open and I’ll find you”, he means it.

You have to feed the hot hand and when it’s your max player doing the feeding, your confidence is through the roof. Butler ended the night with 23 points (17 at the stripe), six boards, seven assists, a steal, and a block. His parade to the line got opened the door to overtime, while his unselfishness thrust Herro straight through it for a game-high 27 points, six rebounds, and a steal.

This may have been his first Player Of The Week award in a Heat jersey, but it certainly won’t be his last this season. Since he’s not the stat padding type it’s not as simple as looking ahead on the schedule and finding a stretch of teams he’s going to feast upon, but when he’s needed, he’ll break the old cape out again.