Sacramento Kings prevailed the Miami Heat with a two-point win after Jimmy Butler missed an easy chance to take the game to overtime at the very end.
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The Miami Heat like every other team in the league right now are dealing with their own hasty absences. Be it due to NBA protocols or injuries, they are down quite a few guys.
With 11 players on the absent list for Sunday’s contest against the Sacramento Kings, Jimmy Butler and Co were trying to get a victory with the same line-up they had against the Houston Rockets.
The Kings are actually in good shape in terms of COVID-19. They have just two key players out due to protocols or injuries in Richaun Holmes and Terence Davis. They are 9-12 at home this season, yet started Sunday’s battle just a half-game outside the Western Conference playoff picture.
But Jimmy couldn’t do what those 12 teams did to the Kings comprehensively.
Jimmy Butler misses a clutch shot and Kyle Lowry is on to him
The Miami Heat started the first game of a back-to-back set near the Bay Area on Sunday with a chance to tie the game in the end. Butler blew a big shot. But Heat’s veteran point guard, Kyle Lowry, in his own funny manner, believes Jimmy would score that 9/10 times in any situation. It was just that day.
Kyle Lowry on Jimmy Butler’s final look:
“Jimmy got a great shot. We’re gonna roll with that shot every single time.”
“He’s making that 10 out of 10 times. Well, 9 out of 10.”
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) January 3, 2022
In the final moments, “Jimmy Buckets” had a chance to tie the game for the Miami Heat. Off a timeout, called on a previous side-out of bounds play, Jimmy got the ball in isolation.
As he drove from the right side of the wing or near-side of the court, he got two Sacramento Kings defenders dumbfounded. That resulted in a pretty wide-open look at the rim for the 5-time All-Star.
Damn Jimmy Butler pic.twitter.com/xgY0wLgQCR
— Ahmed/Not A Lakers Fan 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) January 3, 2022
But unlike many of his big-time swish buckets or off-the-glass hitters, this shot bounced and rolled its way to the opposite side as time ran out. And the Sacramento Kings won the game 115-113.
Butler will now surely come out as angry and aggressive as he can be against the Western Conference leaders, Golden State Warriors. That’s what the depleted Heat Nation requires right now.