Jimmy Butler atones for previous late-game turnovers by leading Heat to 126-118 victory against Mavericks
The last time Jimmy Butler stepped on the court he took the blame for the Miami Heat enduring one of their worst losses of the season.
On Friday, he redeemed himself.
Butler had 26 points, five rebounds and three assists in the Heat's 126-118 victory against the Dallas Mavericks at AmericanAirlines Arena. It snapped a two-game losing streak.
"A win is a win, but we'll take it in this league but we've still got to get better in parts of the game," Butler said. "We're still learning one another. But I think whenever you play hard and you just compete, you end up in the right positions."
Two days ago, Butler had three late turnovers in the Heat's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had also just shot 10 of 28 from the field in his last two appearances.
"This is not his first rodeo so he's been through a lot of NBA seasons," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He knows there are a ton of ups and downs. The thing you have to like about Jimmy is he's willing to take responsibility. He's willing to put himself out there. You can't be a clutch player if you're afraid of what people are going to say."
Forward Duncan Robinson finished with 24 points and five rebounds while Kendrick Nunn and Goran Dragic each 16 points. The Heat also ended a disturbing trend of blowing fourth-quarter leads as they did the previous two losses to the Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers.
"I liked seeing that fourth quarter," Spoelstra said. "As Pat (Riley) used to say, a game can be broken into skirmishes going back and forth and they (the Mavs) won a key one going down the stretch in the third quarter. I was encouraged by how we responded to that. The bench came in and gave us a great boost. We took a lead and they just kept on going."
