ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Butler stars as Heat break free-throw record to down Thunder

Butler stars as Heat break free-throw record to down Thunder

Published Jan 11, 2023 02:09 pm

LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- Jimmy Butler led a record-breaking shooting display from the free throw line as the Miami Heat edged past the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat shoots the ball during the game against the Brooklyn Nets on January 8, 2023 at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida. (AFP)

Miami talisman Butler finished with a perfect 23-of-23 free throws -- including a clutch game-winner with just under 13 seconds remaining -- in a 112-111 victory at the FTX Arena.

Butler's haul was part of a remarkable 40-for-40 free throws made by Miami, breaking the old record of 39-for-39 made by Utah against Portland in 1982.

Butler said afterwards he had been oblivious to Miami's record-breaking night from the foul line.

"I had no idea," Butler told reporters. "I'm more excited that we won this game by one point."

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra was also unaware of his team's free throw record.

"I didn't realise we hadn't missed a free throw," Spoelstra said. "We've been a very good free throw shooting team all year, but that's crazy."

Miami trailed 111-106 with less than a minute remaining but fought back with a Victor Oladipo three-pointer and a Butler layup to tie the game.

Butler's 23rd free throw of the night edged Miami into a one-point lead with just under 13 seconds remaining before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's attempted three-pointer to win it for Oklahoma City bounced off the rim.

"We had to make some plays and we did," Spoelstra said of his team's last-minute rally.

Miami improved to 22-20 with the win while the Thunder fell to 18-23.

Embiid returns

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Joel Embiid returned from injury to deliver a 36-point performance as the Philadelphia 76ers thrashed the injury-hit Detroit Pistons.

The 28-year-old Sixers ace had missed three straight games with a minor foot injury heading into Tuesday's Eastern Conference clash in Philadelphia.

But the two-time MVP runner-up looked back to his dominant self in just 23 minutes on court as Philadelphia romped to a 147-116 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.

Embiid's points tally came from 12-of-20 shooting, while the Sixers big man also chipped in with 11 rebounds and two blocks.

James Harden and Tyrese Maxey added 16 points each while Tobias Harris had 14 points as Philadelphia led from start to finish to improve to 25-15.

Harden's points tally was part of a second straight triple double. The 10-time All-Star added 12 rebounds and 15 assists.

After jumping out to a 65-43 half-time lead, the Sixers cut loose in a blizzard of scoring in the third quarter with 42 points before adding 40 more in the fourth.

Philadelphia remain in fifth place in the East, 3.5 games adrift of leaders Boston. Detroit meanwhile are rooted to the foot of the table with a dismal 11-33 record.

In Salt Lake City, Jordan Clarkson's 32-point performance, including a crucial 9-0 run in the fourth quarter, helped the Utah Jazz upset the high-flying Cleveland Cavaliers 116-114.

Lauri Markkanen added support with 25 points while Malik Beasley, Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all chipped in with 13 points each.

Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell produced another high-scoring performance with 46 points but it was not enough to deny Utah victory.

Related Tags

Jimmy Butler nba Miami Heat
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.