Hobbled Butler serves as a decoy late in the heat win

NEW YORK CITY — A limping Jimmy Butler stood in the corner of the court at Madison Square Garden and repeatedly performed his shooting routine even while the ball was in play.

The Miami Heat star knew there wasn’t much he could do in the final five minutes, but he wasn’t about to leave the court.

Butler twisted his right ankle on a 5:05 drive in the fourth quarter but lost the rest of the game when the Heat defeated the New York Knicks 108-101 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals. In his post-game walk-off interview with ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth, Butler said he just wanted to find a way to have a presence on the floor.

“I didn’t do too much other than airball a 3,” Butler said. “I’ll take the dub.”

When asked how his ankle felt, Butler added, “Like a rolled ankle.”

Butler did not address the media after the game but was tied up as he walked through the Miami Heat locker room. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had no further updates on Butler after the game.

“You just don’t know with ankle sprains,” Spoelstra said. “I don’t even know if we’ll know more by tomorrow. We just have to see. It’s going to be a waiting game. With ankle sprains, you just don’t know. I don’t even know if we can “We’ll know more by tomorrow. We just have to see. It’s going to be a waiting game.”

At 5:05 of the fourth quarter, Butler drove to his right on Knicks guard Josh Hart. Sensing contact from Hart, Butler got up for a shot. Hart fell, but as he did, kicked Butler’s right ankle. Butler fell to the ground in a heap and immediately grabbed his foot. He lay on the floor for a few minutes before carefully approaching the heated bench.

Despite the injury, Butler came back into play to take his two free throws. For the rest of the game, however, he was mostly a decoy. He was in the corner during several possessions or during the break and was not involved in any actions.

Butler attempted a shot from injury, a 3-pointer he missed from the corner with 1:15 left. He only left the game when 23.6 seconds remained and the outcome was not in doubt. Spoelstra said Butler made it clear he wanted out of the game after the injury.

“I know him,” said Spoelstra. “I know when to look him in the eye. He assured me he wouldn’t be a liability and wanted to stay there and make sure we got that momentum. I mean that’s the most important thing. We had a lot of chaos and a lot of things are happening, but the main thing is that we have to secure it and get the win, and then we’ll find out what happens in the next 48 hours.

The trust between coach and player has grown over the years, Spoelstra said.

Butler finished the tournament with 25 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in 43 minutes and 27 seconds of work. The only time he missed in the second half was in the final seconds.

Butler helped the Heat bounce back from a difficult first quarter as the Knicks jumped out to an early double-digit lead. New York led 55-50 at halftime before the Heat controlled most of the second half. As Butler went under in the fourth quarter, the Heat held onto a 95-92 lead. Butler’s free throws pushed the lead to two, but from there there wasn’t much Butler could do on offense.

“Great bait,” joked heat warden Kyle Lowry.

Lowry said Butler shows his toughness and the toughness of the team by staying in the game, but for now, players were just hoping to see him bounce back.

“That’s our type. He is our star. He’s our franchise player,” Lowry said. “We always want him to get up and the thoughts are hopefully he’s fine but if he’s not then we have to find it, hold on to it. … But that’s what he does. He finished the game and he’s a tough guy.”

Lowry came off the bench in 29:59 with 18 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Lowry, listed at 6 feet, also had four blocks, setting a playoff career high. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Lowry has become the shortest player with four blocks in a playoff game over the past 35 seasons. All four blocks came as the Knicks pulled in for the layup.

While Butler was clearly limping, the Knicks didn’t attack him. According to Second Spectrum Tracking, Butler has only been involved in two pick-and-rolls in the past five minutes. He turned on one game and a foul was called before the other game got underway. Butler was the closest defender with just one shot in the final five minutes, a missed 3-pointer from Hart with 34.3 seconds left when Butler failed to pivot from his seat in the lane to Hart.

Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night in New York, but there are three days off until Game 3 on Saturday in Miami. There’s no official word on Butler’s status, but the Heat have had to deal with injuries throughout the season. In the first round alone, Miami lost Tyler Herro (fractured right hand) and Victor Oladipo (torn patellar tendon in left knee).

“This group has been through a lot,” said Spoelstra. “We’ve been through a lot throughout the year and we’re not impervious to lads being picked up or hurt, but our group learned to split up and focus on the task at hand and that’s exactly what it was.

“There was no overreaction. We had enough tears behind the scenes, some people got hurt and stuff like that. We have to get the job done.”

Heat guard Gabe Vincent, who had 20 points, said the team just needed to see how bad Butler’s ankle injury was and adjust from there. But what if Miami has to play without a butler?

“We’ll cross this bridge when we get there,” said Vincent.