Winderman’s view: Jimmy Butler gets help when needed and when deserved

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Friday night’s 96-92 NBA playoff victory over the New York Knicks:

– This was the game that was going to answer the question of whether the Heat could win in the playoffs without Jimmy Butler at his best.

– Perhaps it was the ankle.

– Perhaps carrying the weight of the team for so long.

– Perhaps the defense of Quentin Grimes.

– As it is, he became the first Heat player to average at least 30 points through his first 10 games of a postseason.

– But the explosion wasn’t always there.

– Drives that typically are rewarded with fouls this time went without whistles.

– And often without conversions.

– All as he continued to play smartly out of double teams.

– And attack the boards.

– Against the Knicks, it still left him competitive.

– And he still made a difference late.

– Again doing it without his typical second-half rest.

– But what if P.J. Tucker looms in the East finals?

– Ah the irony.

– So what mattered most for Butler is this:

– Now four days off.

– He’s earned each and every one of them.

– Getting help when needed most.

– From an active Bam Adebayo.

– And a huge late steal from Kyle Lowry.

– The Heat remained with their starting lineup of Bam Adebayo, Kevin Love, Butler, Max Strus and Gabe Vincent.

– The Knicks again started Grimes ahead of Josh Hart. The other New York starters remained Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett and Jalen Brunson.

– Immanuel Quickley (ankle) was not available for the Knicks.

– Tyler Herro (hand) and Victor Oladipo (knee) were the only players not available for the Heat.

– Vincent was called for his second foul with 7:32 left in the opening period, leading to an early entry by Lowry.

– Which had Butler moving to the defensive assignment on Brunson.

– Leaving Lowry to take the undersized assignment on Barrett.

– Among the Heat’s early scores was a Strus dunk off a 60-foot alley-oop pass from Love.

– Caleb Martin followed Lowry as the Heat’s second reserve, with Cody Zeller following for eight deep and Duncan Robinson for nine deep.

– The Knicks’ foul trouble came with 6:13 to play, when Barrett was called for his fourth.

– The game’s lead official was Scott Foster, with the Heat entering having lost their previous nine games that Foster officiated, including Game 2 of this series.

– As it was, fouls were on the Heat’s mind, after a foul-filled close to their Game 5 loss.

– “Physicality, but doing things with discipline is critical,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said going in. “And they have guys that have an attack nature, but they also know how to draw fouls. Can’t have that make us passive.”

– Then came a night filled with whistles.

– Adebayo went in expecting a big game from Butler.

– “That’s playoff Jimmy,” he said. “We know the type of mindset he gets into when he feels some sort of disrespect or feels like he isn’t being who he is. So I think the biggest thing for Jimmy, I feel like he’s going to come out in that mode. You might see a different type of him.”

– Of the notion of Butler having to get to his game for the Heat to win, Spoelstra said, “Jimmy is about winning and he is about doing whatever is necessary.”

– With Spoelstra clearly having had enough of storylines.

– “It’s not about the narratives,” he said. “It’s just about getting this job done, somehow, someway.”

– Strus went in saying the Heat couldn’t allow their Game 5 misses to impact their Game 6 shooting.

– “We’re going to keep taking and shooting those shots, confident in everybody in our locker room to make them,” he said. “And if they keep giving looks like that, they’re playing with fire. We’ve got guys who can shoot on our team. We all believe in each other.”

– The Heat then came out missing.

– Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau went in not expecting a Game 5 carryover.

– “One game has nothing to do with the next,” he said.

– Butler’s first free throw was the 600th of his playoff career.

– The Knicks introduce megastars in the crowd at their games.

– The Heat introduced former Heat center Joel Anthony.