Jimmy Butler Doesn’t Hold Back On Heat After Game 3 Loss: ‘Can’t Happen’

All-Star small forward Jimmy Butler wasn’t happy after the Miami Heat lost Game 3 of the 2023 NBA Finals at home to the Denver Nuggets.

The Heat lost Game 3 by a final score of 109-94.

“I don’t know. I can’t answer that. Maybe we’re at home; we think we did something. I don’t know. It just can’t happen,” Butler said. “It won’t happen again. It starts with myself. I have to lock in on the defensive end. I have to go up and get loose balls. I think if I start playing and doing that, then everybody else has to follow suit.”

Game 3 got away from the Heat in the third quarter, where the Nuggets outscored them 29-20. Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and star point guard Jamal Murray both recorded triple-doubles for Denver, becoming the first pair of teammates to do so in a Finals game.

Butler finished with 28 points, two rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes. However, his strong performance wasn’t enough to help the Heat win.

“We didn’t play our best tonight,” Butler said. “I feel like we just got to come out with more energy and effort, and that’s correctible. That’s on us as a group. No X’s and O’s can fix that. So come out, dive on the floor, get loose balls, get defensive rebounds and maybe, just maybe, it would have been a different game.”

Game 4 is on Friday, June 9. It’s a must-win game for the Heat, who can’t afford to go down 3-1. Only one team in NBA history has won a Finals series after going down 3-1. That was the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, who had LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.

“I can only speak for myself, but I missed some that I normally make, along with Bam, too. But we are going to continually get those,” Butler said. “Getting two feet in the paint, if you can get a shot up, get it up. If you can’t, get it out to your shooters. I think we did a good job with that. Maybe we do have to do a better job of finishing. But those are the same shots that we’re going to get next game, and we are expected to take and make those.”