As Game 3 of the NBA Finals Approaches, Jimmy Butler’s Defense on Jamal Murray Got Focus of Much Attention

MIAMI — I had to ask the question twice for Bam Adebayo to understand.

“Jamal Murray,” I proclaimed. In Game 2, Jimmy focused a lot of his attention on him. In Game 2, he was noticeably less vocal. I’m curious as to how Jimmy performed defensively against that opponent.

“He takes the challenge,” Adebayo said of Nuggets great and two-time NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic, who presents a formidable opponent in this year’s NBA Finals. I have faith that he will rise to the challenge of any assignment. He’s going to figure out a way to make things difficult for him.

Not the most lengthy or specific response ever, but I think we can give Adebayo a pass on this one. After all, you try to respond to inquiries as this unfolds to your right: Jimmy Butler, people. Since the beginning of time, “making it tough on him” has seemed effortless.

In the Finals’ first major strategy change between games, Erik Spoelstra benched Caleb Martin in favor of reintroducing Kevin Love to his starting lineup alongside Adebayo.

Once the Celtics chose to start just one big man, essentially removing a defensive matchup for Love, the Heat’s starting lineup, which had been so effective in the first rounds of the playoffs, became unworkable.

However, against a Denver club that starts big — gigantic, really — with Jokic, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr. along the front line, Spoelstra brought back Love’s bulk in an effort to minimize the post-ups, deep seals, duck-ins, and bully-ball that the Nuggets feasted on in Game 1.

The reorganization has proven fruitful. On Sunday, the Heat beat Denver 111-108 thanks in large part to Love’s 22 minutes of work, during which he grabbed 10 rebounds, made 2 steals, took 1 charge, and played excellent help defense.

However, Love’s addition to the starting lineup had a significant knock-on effect in that it forced Miami’s defensive matchups to be reshuffled by Spoelstra.

According to NBA Advanced Stats, Butler spent roughly 61% of the game guarding Gordon while Murray, who was largely checked by the smaller Gabe Vincent, turned in a stellar Finals debut, scoring 26 points on 11-for-22 shooting with 10 assists in Denver’s series-opening win.

However, in Game 2, Butler switched to defend Murray instead of Love, who was matched up with Gordon at the 4.

Certainly not always – “It’s not just Jimmy…” Spoelstra was quick to point out that on more than half of the instances in which they shared the court, Murray would draw second and third defenders because of his high usage rate.

“He scores in so many different ways,” Butler remarked. He’s had the ball a lot and he’s making great readings and passes. But it’s all about giving it your all, matching his every move, body to body.

Well, objective accomplished: with 2:35 remaining in Game 2, Murray had scored 12 points on 12 shots in 36 minutes of action.

Murray responded, “Mentality is the same,” when asked about his strategy shifting from Game 1’s nonstop Vincent and Martin coverage to Butler’s covering in Game 2 (and beyond).

Throughout my career, I’ve faced a wide variety of defensive players. Jimmy is an excellent defender. I’ve got good hands and I’m excited.

Murray scored 18 points in Game 2 owing to two massive 3-pointers in the game’s last 2:35; he could have had more but for a missed goaltend and a late second-half equalizer that hit off the front rim.

The fact that he didn’t was a major factor in the Heat taking a 1-1 tie into Miami instead of a 2-0 deficit in the series. Murray’s relatively modest production was made a lot more difficult to come by thanks in large part to Butler’s all-court harassing, which limited Murray to 3-for-6 shooting when the two were paired up.

There were observable effects of Butler’s work, including missed shots on contested looks, clean dribble penetration, ball pressure that forced Murray to reevaluate his passing options, and the neutralization of half of Denver’s bread-and-butter two-man game.

Murray struggled against Miami’s drop coverage in Game 2, as noted by Couper Moorhead of Heat.com. Butler’s ability to get over the top of screens, stay connected, and use his length and physicality to bother Murray as he came off the pick likely contributed to his poor performance in this area.

However, it sung the loudest during the times when nothing was happening, or when something else was.

Exciting Game 3 of the NBA Finals

According to Second Spectrum, Murray had the most touches, frontcourt touches, and time of possession of any player in the first game; his “fingerprints” were all over the court, as Spoelstra would put it.

But what about Game 2? Murray had 35% fewer touches, 12% fewer touches in the frontcourt, and 2.6% less time with the ball. In his 39 minutes of action, he attempted seven fewer shots and made only seven of those attempts from inside the three-point line.

The truth is, I didn’t know,” Jokic remarked. When you’re actually in the game, you don’t give it any thought. You only care about winning. But, sure, we must get him moving.

However, those statistics come with a few important qualifications. Denver’s offensive possession total dropped to 86 from 93 in Game 1, making this their second-slowest game of the season, behind only their matchup with the Heat in February.

“We want to play fast,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone stated on Tuesday. As in, “They Want to Play Slow.” Murray’s time on the field was reduced by around five minutes in Game 2 compared to Game 1.

If the pace had been faster and Malone had relied more heavily on his star point guard, the teams’ touch and time of possession figures would have been more even.
You can still identify instances in Game 2 where Joki and Denver’s other passers looked elsewhere rather than trying to force the ball to the guy protected by the five-time All-Defensive Teamer.

The most important thing for us, as Adebayo put it, is to “force everybody on the team into tough shots,” and to accept the consequences of doing so.

Even if, and this may get me in trouble with Coach Spoelstra, those tough shots are being taken by the two-time Most Valuable Player.

Butler referred to him as “one of the snake’s heads.” “In this case,” I believe it to be a “two-headed snake.”

Normal one-headed snake bites are unpleasant, but they may not be fatal. As a unit, the Nuggets’ offense did just well in Game 2, and Joki did, in fact, score 41 points.

As a result of Murray’s absence and the disruption to the team’s flow, Denver’s starting lineup saw its offensive efficiency drop from 118.2 points per 100 possessions in Game 1 to a meager 100 points per 100 possessions in Game 2.

At a critical juncture in the season, every point counts, and the Nuggets’ slow starts to the first and third quarters without any stops or buckets allowed Miami to steal home court advantage.

What is now Butler and the Heat’s biggest challenge? Disclosing no new information about Murray.

I know if I and Bam set the pace on that end, everyone else will have to follow,” Butler said, so he must keep doing it. To quote one participant: “It’s all about doing your job, doing what is asked of you on any given night, and hoping, praying that you did enough to get a win.”

Now it’s up to Murray and the Nuggets to keep pressing against Butler’s defense and count on creative solutions from their teammates to make the Heat pay.

Aggressiveness in Shooting the Ball

“Aggressiveness is not just shooting the ball,” Murray remarked. To be aggressive means, for example, “going downhill and making the pass to another person who is open. It’s played on a team. The focus shouldn’t be on me.

However, Denver may require Murray to make the game all about him at some point: to bravely stare down one of the finest perimeter defenders in the world and refuse to flinch; to find ways to shed him, create more separation to cook, and to get that other head biting again.

Clearly, he towers over me in height. Murray smiled and continued, “I’m not going to tell you how to beat it.” However, I do it my way.

About Author