Jimmy Butler furiously walked off the court before the game ended as the Miami Heat lost to the Orlando Magic in overtime on Saturday night - and he vented his frustration at the officials.
Butler’s Heat fell 126-114 to the Magic at Amway Center. Butler finished with 38 points in a stellar individual performance - but his, and coach Erik Spoelstra's, anger with the officiating crew may be the headline story when it’s all said and done.
His irritation began when the 33-year-old took an elbow to the face and was called for a foul midway through the game. Butler was then called for a technical foul with 10.4 seconds remaining after he walked off the court and into the locker room while he was still checked into the game, on paper at least.
Butler cut a frustrated figure as he left the court, which led to Miami receiving the technical call as the team had just four players on court. Heat coach Spoelstra was livid with the call, but when asked after the game if he was even aware of the call, Butler responded: “I don’t give a f***.”
Butler - selected 30th in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls - had originally given the Heat a chance when he drained a contested three-pointer over a pair of Magic defenders at the regulation buzzer to send the game to overtime. However, his teammates couldn’t match his high standards as the young Magic core regrouped and held Butler scoreless in the additional period to secure the win.
Butler has carved out an incredible career for himself through sheer work ethic and determined play. However, the six-time All-Star is ultimately respectful of his opposition as the Magic took the Heat to overtime yet again: “They imposed their will. We didn’t deserve to win.”
By rule, the technical foul was the correct call as written in Rule 12-A, which declares ‘errors involving the wrong number of players at the start of play, four or less, will be penalised with a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul and play shall resume from the point-of-interruption’. Both controversial calls on Butler were made by referee James Williams, with the Heat now 1-2 with Williams officiating their games this season.
“It started off with that blocking foul, where Jimmy took one to the face,” Spoelstra said. “Then Cody took another one to the face and broke his nose. And then our debate about those things seemed to carry over with the official and then it became like a matching of egos, I guess.”
Butler’s frustration is perhaps understandable given the Heat are underperforming amid one of the best stretches of his career, averaging 26.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 62.9% from the floor in the 10 games since the All-Star break. Miami are just 4-6 during that stretch.
The 36-33 Heat take on the Utah Jazz in their next contest on Monday. The Jazz are 33-35 and sit ninth in the Western Conference while Miami are seventh in the east.
