The Miami Heat were as shorthanded a team as they can be on Tuesday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. With Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and Kyle Lowry out (among seven injured players in total), the onus was on Jimmy Butler's shoulders to carry the burden offensively against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder. And surely enough, Butler was more than up to the task.
Jimmy Butler scored 35 points, buoyed by a historic 23-23 night from the charity stripe to lead the Heat to a 113-112 victory over the upstart Thunder. But he was not alone in getting the Heat over the hump, particularly from the free-throw line. The Heat collectively shot a perfect 40-40 from the foul line. And in doing so, they set the single-game record for most free-throw makes in a game without a miss as a team, per ESPN Stats & Info.
It was simply fitting that it was a free throw that gave the Heat the lead for good. On the Heat's final offensive possession, Butler, despite shooting 5-16 from the field to that point, went up strong against Thunder rookie Jalen Williams. Being the stone-cold killer he's always been, Butler nailed a tough and-one right in Williams' grill, and proceeded to make the bonus freebie that proved to be decisive.
JIMMY BUTLER AND-1 🔥pic.twitter.com/mVyLinL6vE
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 11, 2023
The Heat definitely needed every one of those points from the charity stripe in a one-point victory, especially with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey doing everything they could to stun the Heat on the road. In fact, the Thunder still had an opportunity to win the game in the end, with SGA, who's nailed multiple game-winners already this season, missing a three-pointer in the dying seconds. Still, this game ended up being a Jimmy Butler masterclass, as he, yet again, proved that he's as capable of dragging any team to a victory as anyone.
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