On January 18, Beijing time, the Heat defeated the Raptors 104-99 at home, surpassing the Nets that lost to the Cavaliers on the same day and rushing to the second position in the East. Jimmy Butler got a 19+10+10 stat in this game, a statistic that tied LeBron James and became the first in Heat history.
The Bulls' three-game losing streak and the Nets' Kevin Durant is on a 4-6 week off, and many people think that the defending champion Bucks will improve the regular season rankings, but they did not expect that the Bulls, Nets and Bucks all lost on the same day, and the Heat rushed to the second place in the East after beating the Raptors.
In this game where Lowry was absent and Hiro hit only one three-pointer, Butler became the key to the Heat's victory. He had a triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 36 minutes of playing time, which was the key to the Heat's "tug-of-war" in which the two sides won 22 alternate leads.
This is the ninth time butler has won a triple-double in a regular season game for the Heat, and chasing LeBron James has become the most triple-double in the history of the Heat. It is worth mentioning that this is Butler's third season with the Heat, because of the injury factor, this is the 136th regular season game that Butler has played for the Heat, and James has participated in a total of 294 regular season games in the four seasons for the Heat, and no player in the history of the Heat except James and Butler has won a triple-double in the regular season more than 5 times.
So far this season, the Heat have been able to rush to the second place in the East, and lowry's arrival is certainly an important reason, but Butler has done a great job as a leader. So far this season, Butler has averaged a team-high 22.4 points per game with 48.7% shooting in the regular season, in addition to 5.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.9 steals, making him the Heat's leading scorer and steal king.
Butler has already led the Heat to the stage of the Finals, and now he has tied James to become the triple-double king in team history, if he can lead the Heat to a championship, it will be even more wonderful, can this 32-year-old No. 30 show do it?