NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 4, 2023

Jimmy Butler

Miami Heat

Game 2: Postgame

Miami Heat 111, Denver Nuggets 108

Q. We are from Argentina, you see the national team, I know you like our team. Can you say something for the Latin American people that is with the Miami Heat now?

JIMMY BUTLER: Yeah, we love all of our fans, especially Argentina. You got some great basketball players coming out of there. I love the country as a whole. I love football. That's probably my favorite sport.

But like I said, we take our fans if we can get them over here in Miami, and we have a lot of love for everybody that supports us around the world.

Q. Can you take us through the last possession that Denver had and what you saw in Jamal's last shot?

JIMMY BUTLER: I think he got off a decently good look. Kind of like a high pick-and-roll isolation, and I just contested it. Pretty glad that he missed it to give us a 1-1 series tie going back to Miami.

Q. You played on a lot of mentally tough teams throughout the course of your career. What is it about this specific team that makes them so resilient, especially in this run that you guys are on?

JIMMY BUTLER: I just think nobody cares on our team. We're not worried about what anybody thinks. We're so focused in on what we do well and who we are as a group that at the end of the day, that's what we fall back on. Make-or-miss shots, we're going to be who we are because we're not worried about anybody else. That's how it's been all year long, and that's not going to change.

So that's what I think it is. I think it's the "I don't give a damn" factor.

Q. It's not often that Jokic has more turnovers than assists. What was the key defensively for you guys? What do you think bothered him?

JIMMY BUTLER: Some ball pressure. Getting back. Getting our hands on loose balls and just challenging every pass, every shot.

I mean, he's a hell of a player. He passes the ball so incredibly well. Obviously he can score the ball like he did tonight. But when you get the opportunity to turn the ball over and get out into the open floor, I feel as though we have to do that, and we did a decent job of that today.

Q. You guys got off to a really good start in contrast to Game 1, but they blitz you and go up 15. What's the feeling like during those time-outs when is Denver is hitting shots and it feels like the game is slipping away early?

JIMMY BUTLER: That's just part of the game. A lot of the teams in this league, and that's definitely them, they have some big time shot makers. Like I said, we are going to stay with it. We know what we're capable of, get some stops, we can make some shots as well, and got the opportunity to turn the game around and get one on the road.

Q. I think you guys -- I might be off by one, but I think you guys scored on like 15 of 19 possessions in the fourth. The Nuggets don't blow fourth quarter leads in this building. They haven't blown a double-digit lead in this building all playoffs. What was the secret sauce down the stretch for you guys on the offensive end? I know it's about defense mostly, but what was it on the offensive end that worked late?

JIMMY BUTLER: I don't think there's a secret sauce to it. I think we just move the ball, pass the ball to the open guy and play some simple basketball.

A lot like they do, as well.

And we made shots. That's what this league is, that's what this game is, make-or-miss game, make-or-miss league. We made some shots; they didn't.

Q. Gabe has made a lot of big shots over the past couple of years and run the offense here. How do you know when a guy can handle that kind of pressure as a teammate? Is that something you see in practice? Do you have to see it in big games?

JIMMY BUTLER: I see it every day. We talk about it; so I know how comfortable he is. I know the level of confidence that we have in him and that he has in himself to go out there and run the offense at any point in time, first through fourth quarter, maybe even overtime.

And we live with the decisions and the shots that he makes and takes, and he's our starting PG for a reason.

Q. Three years ago it seemed like, maybe it's unfair, that it took you like three games to get into the series. Is there anything conscious that you changed coming into this one, any lesson that you learned?

JIMMY BUTLER: No. Keep playing basketball as far as I can. Making plays for others. Score whenever I get the opportunity to do so. And through all else, just find a way to win. I think we did that tonight as a group, and we'll continue to do that as a group.