NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS. HEAT

May 25, 2022

Kyle Lowry

Jimmy Butler

Miami Heat

Game 5: Postgame

Celtics 93, Heat 80

Q. I guess this is to both of you guys, at this time of year when the games mean the most, you want to be at your best, but there's also the grind of a season. Kyle, to you, what's it like to try to push through what you're pushing through? And Jimmy, the same to you, what's it like, you trying to push through when clearly you guys do not seem to be your complete selves?

KYLE LOWRY: Just try to play and help the team win. No matter what situation we're in, I've got to play better. I've playing terrible. It is what it is. I'm out there, so I've got to do a better job.

JIMMY BUTLER: We all do. We missed a lot of shots. More than anything, we just had a lot of mental lapses in the second half on the defensive end and that was the game. I think we played a pretty decent first half, but you've got to play two halves to win against them.

Q. With the way Boston is sliding guys into the paint, how is it affecting what you guys want to do offensively and the shots you usually get?

JIMMY BUTLER: We've got to make shots, but we've also got to trust the pass. I think we get away from that at times. Hit the open guy, because there is three, four, five people in the paint at a time, whether it be us and them. We just have to trust the pass knowing that whenever we get in there and kick it out, we're going to make the shot.

Q. When we asked you about this after last game, I know you said it had nothing to do with it, but I am curious, when did you start feeling the irritation in your knee that the team brought up in the middle of Game 3?

JIMMY BUTLER: Man, honestly, it doesn't matter; if I'm out there, I've got to do better. I've got to find a way to help us win, and I haven't been doing that. I'm fine. My knee is okay. I've just got to do better. It's no excuse.

Q. You guys have been a successful shooting team all year. Spo liked the looks you got all night. How do you keep the confidence up for your shooters?

KYLE LOWRY: That's what we do. We had a couple bad shooting games, but we got good looks and we got 45 threes off tonight. I mean, just didn't make any.

We have to continue to just keep working. It's the first to four. So we have to go into a hostile environment and it will be amped up, but I like what our team can do. I like the opportunity that we have, and we've got to go in there and fight.

Q. You've obviously been a no-excuse team for years, but what gives you confidence that you can go into Boston and win Game 6?

JIMMY BUTLER: Besides the fact that anything is possible, we know what we are capable of. We know we can play some really good basketball and we know that we are going to play some really good basketball. It's going to have to start in this next game up in Boston. But I just think that we know that we can win.

Q. Your injury is hard to play through, almost any is, but the way that it limits anybody that has a hamstring. But do you see areas even while limited that you feel like you can make more of an impact than you've been able to make?

KYLE LOWRY: I think when I'm out there, I've got to play better in general, no matter what happens. It's a team game and we're out there together. For me, just being in the right spots defensively and setting up guys offensively. I mean, if I'm out there, I've got to play and play better. It's as simple as that.

Q. You mentioned some of the defensive breakdowns in the second half. Do you feel like the offensive struggles are wearing the defense down?

JIMMY BUTLER: We've been like that all year long. We're not making shots, we're not guarding anybody. I've said it over and over again. I hope that we do make shots, but even when we don't, we've got to figure out a way to get stops and not worry about that end of the floor, knowing that if we play basketball the right way, the shots will fall.

Whether we are making shots the next game or not, the only way we've got a shot is if we guard.