Threes continue to go in for Heat’s Jimmy Butler: ‘Put him in the Three-Point Contest next year’

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler has been one of the NBA’s most efficient three-point shooters this season.

Yes, the same Butler who shot just 26.6 percent on 1.9 three-point attempts per game in his first four regular seasons with the Heat.

Yes, the same Butler who has never shot 40 percent or better from behind the arc in a season prior to this one.

Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo lift Heat to home win over Jazz. Takeaway and details from the victory

Butler, who is in his 13th NBA season, has shot an eye-opening 43 of 94 (45.7 percent) from three-point range in his fifth season with the Heat. That’s not a high volume in today’s NBA at 2.3 three-point attempts per game, but he has made a high percentage of the ones he has put up.

Among the 260 players around the NBA who have attempted at least two threes per game and have appeared in at least 20 games this season, Butler holds the third-best three-point shooting percentage behind only Dallas’ Dante Exum (47.8 percent) and Phoenix’s Grayson Allen (46.7 percent).

“It actually hasn’t been an emphasis,” Butler said, downplaying the improvement of his three-point shot. “If I wanted to shoot all threes, I actually could and I think that I would shoot a really good percentage. I just like running into the paint and running into people and seeing who’s going to fall down first.”

That was all on display in the Heat’s 126-120 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night at Kaseya Center — Miami’s 10th victory in the last 13 games to improve to 34-26 this season.

On his way to scoring a season-high 37 points on 19 field-goal attempts, Butler shot 3 of 3 from three-point range. He also generated 16 paint points on 8-of-10 shooting at the rim while scoring 10 points at the foul line.

The Heat outscored the Jazz by 14 points in the 36 minutes that Butler played on Saturday, but was outscored by the Jazz by eight points when Butler was on the bench.

“When I attack, I think that’s when we’re at our best,” Butler continued, with the Heat in the middle of a two-day break before returning to practice on Monday and closing its quick two-game homestand on Tuesday against the struggling Detroit Pistons. “We get to get our shooters involved, we get to get my teammates involved and I get to pass first and be a play-maker. That’s how I want to play the game of basketball.”

The three-pointer is a bigger part of Butler’s game now, though.

Butler, 34, has made at least one three-pointer in his last 14 appearances for the the longest regular-season streak of his NBA career. He has shot 23 of 41 (56.1 percent) on threes during his 14-game stretch.

Butler has also hit multiple threes in 12 games this season after making multiple threes in just seven games last season.

Butler’s three-point shot is a unique one, too, as he’s more comfortable when it’s a set shot and doesn’t have to jump as high to get it off.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Butler’s teammates have urged him for years to take more three-pointers. Spoelstra still wants Butler to shoot more threes, but he knows he can’t push too much because that could lead to Butler doing the opposite.

“He knows how I feel,” Spoelstra said with a grin. “If I say too much, he’s the ultimate contrarian. He’s a great shooter. Why not? It’s like a little pop-a-shot for him. I think, put him in the Three-Point Contest next year. Allow him just to shoot that shot, I’ll put my money on him.”

Butler is on pace to finish this regular season with 66 makes on 144 three-point attempts. If this current rate continues, Butler would join Jason Kapono (who did it in the 2006-07 season) as the only two Heat players in franchise history to shoot 45 percent or better on more than 140 total three-point attempts in a season.

When the postseason comes around, opposing defenses will still be focused on taking away the paint and limiting free throws when guarding Butler. But this recent success from three-point range gives opponents something else to game plan against.

“I want him to keep taking [threes] with confidence,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said, “keep making them and keep talking that [expletive].”

MORE INJURIES?

The Heat defeated the Jazz on Saturday despite missing three rotation players in Tyler Herro (right foot medial tendinitis), Kevin Love (right heel bruise) and Josh Richardson (right shoulder dislocation).

In addition, two other Heat rotation players came out of Saturday’s game in some pain.

Adebayo appeared to tweak his ankle before then colliding with Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks a few seconds later. With a timeout called shortly after, Adebayo limped straight to the locker room before returning to the Heat’s bench with a wrap around his back.

The good news for the Heat is Adebayo was healthy enough to play the entire fourth quarter, dominating with 11 points and four rebounds in the period.

“I got blindsided,” Adebayo said of the collision after contributing 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists in Saturday’s win. “Those plays happen. I went to the back, got some treatment and finished the game.”

What did Adebayo receive treatment on?

“My body,” Adebayo said, declining to offer any specifics.

But Heat wing Caleb Martin’s issue was clear, as he left the contest with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter after Butler’s hand inadvertently hit him in the mouth. Martin never returned to the game, receiving six stitches on a mouth laceration.

Martin was unable to speak to reporters after the win, getting dressed in the locker room with gauze in his mouth to help stop the bleeding.

“I got him good,” Butler said. “When I hit him, I didn’t know it was him. But whoever I hit, I knew it was leaking and he needed stitches because I hit him smooth on.”

Martin, who was already playing through a sprained left thumb he suffered in Thursday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets, recorded 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc, five rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 23 minutes off the Heat’s bench before leaving Saturday’s game late in the fourth quarter.

“Caleb has a messed up hand, knocked in the mouth, every play he makes is just a collision here or a collision there,” Spoelstra said. “He inspires everybody in our locker room and he’s just a gamer. He just makes big plays at the right times and it inspires other guys to do the same.”

With two days off before Tuesday’s game against the visiting Pistons, the Heat is not required to issue an injury report for the contest until Monday afternoon.

▪ The Heat held its 24th annual Family Festival on Sunday afternoon at Kaseya Center.

The carnival-style event benefits the Miami Heat Charitable Fund and provides attendees the opportunity to interact with Heat players, coaches and their families.