NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 12, 2023

Kyle Lowry

Jimmy Butler

Miami Heat

Game 5: Postgame

Denver Nuggets 94, Miami Heat 89

Q. Spoelstra was in here a few minutes ago talking about the bond you guys gained and the things you went through in this postseason, even lessons that civilians could take away from seeing a team that might have been counted out and overachieved. Are you guys too bottom line to appreciate that kind of stuff, or is that something in the months and years to come, you're going to look back at this run as something special?

KYLE LOWRY: First and foremost, congratulations to the Denver Nuggets. Great franchise. Great team. They deserved it, and they beat us fair and square.

I think we go, and it's a special bond with this group. We were led by one of the best basketball players on this earth, and he instilled confidence in us. It's kind of one of those things where we don't know how we are going to feel and what we are going to think right this moment.

But you know, we'll look back at some point and say, hey, it was a great year, great run. But right now, just can't even think about that right this moment.

Q. Jimmy, you've always learned something from every year since you've been in the league. What will your biggest takeaway from this season and this team be?

JIMMY BUTLER: Probably how grateful I am to be able to compete with these guys. You never know what the team is going to look like next year, the year after that. I'm just grateful. I learned so much. They taught me so much. I wish I could have got it done for these guys because they definitely deserve it.

But the one thing I'm going to take from it is how grateful I am to be able to compete with them.

Q. I know it's tough to look big picture right now, but can you describe what the last four years have been like and just finding a team and a city that you can call home?

JIMMY BUTLER: It's been great. I've had some helluva teammates come through and compete with me and give us the opportunity to win a championship, which I still believe, with everything in me, that we will do as a team here, as an organization, as a city in Miami.

The four years have been great. It's always great to be wanted and loved and appreciated. I don't think that's going to change. But for the time being, like I just said to Nick, I'm grateful, man, that we made it here. Came up short, but I'm blessed. I'm fortunate.

Q. You guys win the turnover battle. You guys also had more steals in this contest. What stood out to you in that final stretch, maybe that two minutes there?

JIMMY BUTLER: That I turned the ball over. That's what stood out.

Q. I know you're not one to make excuses, but after that ankle injury in the second round, how much did that affect you moving forward as the postseason went on?

JIMMY BUTLER: Zero. My ankle is fine. We just didn't win. There's no excuse. They beat us. That's all I got.

Q. 51 points first half, 38 first half. How much of that was you in the last two quarters, you guys, and how much of it was what Denver did after halftime to bog you down?

JIMMY BUTLER: Take it away.

KYLE LOWRY: I think we still got good looks. I think our pace was great. I think they made shots, and we didn't get out in transition as much as we wanted to.

We shot 34 percent or something like that. We got some good looks and just missed them.

Q. The scoring was down in this series. This has become very much of an offensive league, even though you guys very much succeeded with a gritty kind of game. Do you think that's something in the offseason maybe you'll have to look at a little bit more? The way the stats trended all season was of a low-scoring team. Do you think this team needs to add a little bit more on that end going forward, maybe to make it easier after a series of failing to hit a hundred like you did in most of these games?

JIMMY BUTLER: No. We just missed shots. That's what this league is about. We make two or three more shots, that's what it's been for us all year long.

I think we did enough to win. You guard well. We're still in position to win. You don't have to score a hundred points to win a basketball game. I think we'll be okay. That's Coach Pat and Coach Spo's job to put together another team, which I'm confident that they will do, and we'll take it from there.

Q. There was a stretch there where Kyle looked like the champion he is and he just started making plays. Was that inspiring for you at all? It seemed like after that, you found another level. But just watching him do his thing, what did that feel like for you?

JIMMY BUTLER: It's the norm. He's been doing that the entire series, since he's been here and been my teammate. We follow his lead. We follow Bam's lead. We follow everybody. We play basketball our way. You attack. It looks good. But we've seen it time and time again. It doesn't motivate me any more or any less. I know he is a champion and he wants to win. Whatever he's out there doing, it's to win.