With the Los Angeles Lakers so close to an NBA title on Friday and LeBron James pouring in 40 points, the Miami Heat needed Jimmy Butler playing at an MVP level.
The story of Game 5 was how the Heat got Butler free to dominate on his way to an epic, 35-point triple double.
Sunday's Game 6 will be about whether coach Frank Vogel and the Lakers can adjust and slow down Butler.
Let's look at how Butler changed the Finals, how close the Heat are to forcing a Game 7 and what the Lakers can do to claim the franchise's 17th championship.
Heat get Butler loose
In Tuesday's Game 4, Vogel's move to put the bigger Anthony Davis on Butler ruled the day. Although Butler didn't exactly struggle in Miami's Game 4 loss, coming within an assist of a triple-double, Davis slowed his scoring production after a strong first quarter. Butler had just 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting (including 1-of-7 against Davis, per ESPN Stats & Information research) the rest of the way. With Goran Dragic still sidelined by a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot, the Heat needed more punch from Butler.
Two adjustments helped Miami get just that.
First, after two days off to prepare, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra countered by getting Butler more opportunities in the pick-and-roll and making sure that he was prepared to shoot when the Lakers ducked under screens. The Heat made a concerted effort to involve smaller defenders in the pick-and-roll by using their perimeter players to screen for Butler.
In Game 4, Butler got 15 on-ball screens from Miami's non-centers (everyone but Bam Adebayo and Jae Crowder), according to Second Spectrum tracking. In Game 5, that nearly doubled to 28.
Second, Butler was more aggressive looking for his own shot. Part of the reason Davis contained Butler was that he used his size to go under screens and meet Butler on the other side, all but daring him to take uncontested pull-up jumpers. Butler took just three such shots in Game 4, going 1-for-3 on them.
That changed in a big way in the first half of Game 5, when Butler knocked down five jumpers in as many attempts, four of them outside the paint. According to ESPN Stats & Info, that was his most in a half in the 2020 postseason.
The threat of Butler pulling up eventually paid off in the Lakers' switching more of his pick-and-rolls down the stretch. Butler scored over Markieff Morris on a switch with 1:13 left and drew shooting fouls on back-to-back pick-and-rolls involving Morris in the final minute -- all possessions on which Miami took back the lead.
Nunn gives Heat plenty
In addition to changing how he screened for Butler, Spoelstra used more pick-and-roll in general. The 43 on-ball screens Miami set in Game 4 were the team's fewest in the postseason, nine fewer than in any other game, per Second Spectrum. In Game 5, that jumped to 64, the most of any game in the Finals. Kendrick Nunn was the other beneficiary, going from four pick-and-rolls in Game 4 to 10 in Game 5.
Since scoring 18 points in 20 minutes late in a lopsided Game 1, Nunn had struggled to recapture that success while playing a larger role in the absence of Dragic. He was OK in Game 2, scoring 13 points and handing out three assists, but he totaled just 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting in Games 3 and 4 combined.
Nevertheless, Spoelstra stuck with Nunn as he tightened his rotation to seven players in a closeout game, and Nunn responded with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the first half. He finished with 14 points and three assists with no turnovers in 28 crucial minutes. Andre Iguodala was the only other Heat reserve to get in the game, reclaiming the role of backup center from Kelly Olynyk, who was a key part of Miami's Game 3 win.
It's the Lakers' turn to respond
We've already seen a pair of comebacks from 3-1 deficits so far this postseason, and it's reasonable to think they're more likely when teams don't have to deal with playing on the road. That's especially true in this case, given how the series changed with Adebayo back in the lineup. Both games since the Heat's All-Star center returned have been close enough to suggest that the Heat's win was no fluke. Miami could get another boost if Dragic is able to return in some fashion for Game 6.
Now it's up to the Lakers to match the Heat's level of urgency and avoid being extended to a winner-take-all Game 7. That might mean Vogel cutting his rotation as well. I was a little surprised that the Lakers went back to Dwight Howard starting at center after taking him out of the lineup for the second half of Game 4. The Lakers started well with Howard on the court, but the Heat found success getting him switched on Butler in the third quarter.
It's clear that Vogel's most trusted lineups feature Morris in the frontcourt next to Davis, and there's no reason to wait on them at this point.
The Lakers' coaching staff must also reevaluate how the team is defending Butler. The right answer might be to stick with their original game plan from Game 4 and Game 5: using Davis and going under screens when possible. Odds are Butler isn't going to shoot as well off the dribble as he did Friday, and it's not as if what the Lakers were doing before -- including James as a primary defender -- worked any better.
Ultimately, the best adjustment for the Lakers will be their role players performing better. After a strong series, the supporting cast let Davis and James down on a night when they combined for 68 points on 24-of-35 shooting. (LeBron's 39.1 game score was his best of the 2020 playoffs and fourth-best ever in a Finals game, per Basketball-Reference.com.) The remaining Lakers shot 14-of-47 (30%) from the field, something that isn't likely to happen again.
With the Lakers up 3-1 entering Game 5, observers were prepared for a coronation. Instead, we have a competitive series that will continue to put a premium on tactical adjustments.