Trae Young assumed Tuesday night’s game in Miami was over when his assist with a minute remaining in the fourth quarter gave Atlanta a 115-111 lead.
Wrong.
Jimmy Butler (20 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists) and the Heat roared back, earning an improbable 135-121 overtime win, and Butler was quick to mock Young’s boast.
Bam Adebayo led the way with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the first triple-double of his NBA career.
Per The Miami Herald:
“[Adebayo] puts in the time, and now again his confidence and esteem is starting to match the work and things he has been doing within these walls that everybody else is seeing,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But now he’s doing it in clutch situations. That’s why I don’t want to put a ceiling on him either.
“He has a lot on his plate, playing more minutes than he has ever played before. I just want him to embrace all of these different challenges and not get comfortable, which he doesn’t have that kind of mentality.”
The 18 rebounds represent a career-high for Butler. It marked the first time in franchise history that two Heat players have recorded a triple-double in the same game.
“Jimmy and I feed off of each other,” Adebayo said. “He matches my intensity and my standards, and myself vice versa. I feel like we really lock in and lead this club in the right way.”
