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Jimmy Butler responds to LeBron James in critical Game 3 win: ‘You’re in trouble’

After a rough first two games in the NBA Finals, Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat finally came alive on Sunday night.

Butler — who finished with a massive 40-point triple-double in their 115-104 win against the Los Angeles Lakers — made sure that LeBron James knew it too.

Butler, after sinking a layup in the final minutes, looked at James and the rest of the Lakers as they retreated to their respective benches for a timeout and delivered a simple message.

“You’re in trouble.”

The message was one James had told Butler at the end of the first quarter — when the Lakers had rallied back to cut the game to three after a slow start.

“First of all, let’s not act like I’m just out here talking trash because I’m not,” Butler said after the game. “LeBron said it to me at the end of the first. That’s what happened. I just said it to him in the fourth quarter.”

He may not want to call it “trash talk,” but Butler still got the last laugh.

Butler drops 40-point triple-double in Game 3

Butler was critical for the Heat on Sunday night at Walt Disney World.

He finished the night with his first career playoff triple-double, putting up 40 points on 20 shots with 13 assists and 11 rebounds. It was enough to will them to the 11-point win after dropping both Game 1 and Game 2, something that had caused many to write Miami off in the series completely.

Butler scored or assisted on 73 of Miami’s 115 points, marking the second-most in NBA history, and is the first player to ever out-score, out-rebound and out-assist James in a Finals game — including James’ teammates.

James finished the night with 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

“How else do you say it but Jimmy f---ing Butler?” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “This is what he wanted. This is what we wanted. It’s really hard to analyze or describe Jimmy until you actually feel him between the four lines. He’s a supreme competitor, and we need it.”

Both Tyler Herro and Kelly Olynyk added 17 points for the Heat, too, filling in for an injured Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic. They now trail Los Angeles 2-1 in the series headed into Tuesday’s Game 4.

While his performance is one to remember, Butler isn’t thinking too much about it.

“I don’t care about a triple-double,” Butler said. “I don’t care about none of that. I really don’t. I want to win. We did that. I’m happy with the outcome.”

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler during Game 3 of the 2020 NBA Finals
Jimmy Butler got the last laugh on Sunday night. (Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

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