Everything seemed to go right for Miami in the first quarter of Game 3: The Lakers turned the ball over 10 times which became 11 Miami points. The Heat defense held Anthony Davis to zero shots. Jimmy Butler hit 4-of-5 shots and was attacking the paint.
Yet the Heat led by just three at the end of the quarter, 26-23. That’s when LeBron James said to Butler that the Heat were in trouble.
Butler did not forget. After he nailed a dagger shot with just more than a minute left in Game 3, sealing a Heat win, Butler returned the favor, letting LeBron and the Lakers know “you’re in trouble.”
Jimmy Butler straight up told LeBron "You're in trouble" pic.twitter.com/daBI9bV5OI
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) October 5, 2020
Butler confirmed that’s what he said speaking to reporters after the game.
“First of all, I’m not just out there talking trash because I’m not,” Butler said. “LeBron said that to me at the end of the first, that’s what happened. I just said it to him in the fourth quarter.”
Just like Butler, you can be sure LeBron didn’t forget. What, if anything, he and his teammates do about it next game becomes the question.