Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler Willing to do Whatever it Takes to get Back in Series

The stat line said it all for Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler's effort in Game 2: 25 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in 44 minutes.

Still, Butler knows he needs to do more if the Heat are going to recover from a 2-0 deficit against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. If that means playing every minute, he's up for it.

"Whatever it takes to win," Butler said. "If you guarantee me a win with me playing 48 minutes, I'll take it."

Butler was the Heat's lone All-Star Friday against the Lakers. The Heat were minus center Bam Adebayo and guard Goran Dragic, who were sidelined with injuries. There is no timetable on when either will return.

Butler has said before the plan is still to get others involved. That was evident with five Heat players scoring in double-figures.

But it may be time for him to take over if they have to play another game without Dragic and Adebayo.

"I love Jimmy," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We're all learning as a group, you lay it all out there. He is a supreme competitor. You can't define him by any analytic or typical viewpoint of how to play the game of basketball because he's going to compete and he's going to find a different way to compete to put your team in a position to win. It was 45 minutes of everything he had ... He's going to have to get to another level. That's the deal. He loves that type of challenge."

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