As the Miami Heat win their seventh straight game as they beat the Brooklyn Nets Thursday night, the two players that shined the brightest were Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson. Most notably, the two had their moments from three-point range, even Butler poked fun at Robinson after the game came to a conclusion.
Butler said Robinson isn't the best three-point shooter at the moment
Butler praised Robinson's performance after the contest, but took a comical dig at Robinson for not technically being the best three-point shooter on the Heat.
“I mean, Dunc's [Duncan Robinson] a hooper. I think everybody, they skip over a lot of his skill-set and they only focus on his three point shooting ability and he's actually not the best three point shooter on our team as we're speaking right this second,” Butler said while smiling. “But, he's been hooping, putting the ball on the floor, throwing lobs, finishing at the rim, obviously making threes, getting to the free-throw line. Damn that kid is super confident and he'll let the world know. So kudos to him.”
Looking at the percentages, Butler isn't totally wrong as he's shooting 50 percent from three on the season. As for Robinson who is known for his ability to shoot from deep, he's at 36.3 percent. Obviously the volume of the shots goes into play as Robinson takes way more attempts than Butler does.
Butler was seen gesturing a 50 with his hands after he made a three-pointer in the win to the Nets. He said in his post-game conference that his goal is to be at that mark from beyond the arch.
Robinson was asked sarcastically during his presser after the game if it takes some weight off that Butler will shoot 50 percent from three. He happily went along with the joke.
“It does take some pressure off,” Robinson said. “Despite what I shoot from three, it'll be second to him.”
Heat's Butler and Robinson talked about what worked in the win vs. Nets
Besides the three-point shooting, Butler had his best game of the season as he scored a season-high 36 points, 18 of them coming in the third quarter. However, Butler looks at what the rest of the team did well besides his numbers.
“At this point whatever it takes to win. I think we did a good job in the second half at guarding. I'm very proud of us for that,” Butler said. “I don't think we rebounded as well in the fourth quarter, but overall, we play some great basketball. Passed the ball to the open guy and made some shots and it was fun to play at home for once.”
As for Robinson, he's had a nice stretch in the past couple of games and it continued against the Nets as he had 26 points and made six of his 10 shots (60 percent) from deep. He said post-game that it could be because he's seeing “different coverages” as he plays in the NBA.
“I'm seeing some different coverages, especially with the handoffs and pick and rolls, maybe a combination of things,” Robinson said. “Maybe the fact that I'm trying to mix up, do some different things offensively and stay aggressive in different ways, not just shooting threes. So you know, just trying to make it difficult on defenses to do different things.”
Fans are hoping to see more of the same from Butler and Robinson as the Heat head into a brutal five-game road trip. It starts Saturday as Miami takes on the Chicago Bulls, hoping to make it eight straight wins.
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