Getty Miami Heat star Jimmy butler warms up prior to a game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jimmy Butler was noticeably thorny following the Miami Heat‘s overtime loss to the Orlando Magic earlier in the week and, really, who can blame him? Despite the fact that Butler had what might have been his best game of the season — in addition to drilling the miracle three that sent the thing into OT — his Heat couldn’t hang on in the end.
After the contest, Butler went to extreme measures to both exorcise his demons and reignite his teammates’ competitive fire… by playing the Nickelback card.
Via ESPN’s Nick Friedell:
The sounds of Nickelback coming from the portable speaker inside the Miami Heat locker room were unmistakable. As the rest of his teammates and Heat staffers quietly showered, got dressed and picked over a postgame pizza spread following a 126-114 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday, Jimmy Butler decided it was the the right time to pump up the volume on his stereo and blast the familiar sounds of Chad Kroeger’s voice.
And Butler, who had just poured in a game-high 38 points in 39 minutes sang every word to each song.
Flash forward to Friday and the infamous Canadian rock band shouted Butler out via Twitter, inserting his name into the lyrics of the 2001 smash hit “How You Remind Me.” Butler also received an invitation to croon alongside Kroeger and Co. later this year.
“’It‘s not like Jimmy…to say sorry!’,” the tweet read. “@JimmyButler we’re going on tour this summer, hit us up if you want to come sing along live.”
Entering Saturday’s road bout with the Chicago Bulls, Butler’s last-ditch move seems to be paying off; the Heat have bounced back from the Magic loss to back-to-back wins.
Kyle Lowry Ruled Out in Chicago
After coming off the bench in the Heat’s last three contest, veteran point-man Kyle Lowry will be returning to the sidelines again on Saturday. As relayed by the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang and others, the call has been made to hold Lowry out versus the Bulls.
Chiang noted that “the expectation is Lowry will be able to play tomorrow in Detroit, as the Heat continues to take a cautious approach with him after his recent return form knee soreness.”
The 36-year-old missed 15 straight contests between February 2 and his March 11 return in the Magic game. For the year, he’s averaging 11.9 points, 5.2 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game with 40-34-85 shooting splits.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has been overwhelmingly positive about Lowry’s second-unit turn.
“This is just a luxury for our team to have Kyle Lowry in 20 minutes off the bench,” Spoelstra said, via FanNation “He’s an incredible talent to be able to help organize that second unit… When you have a Hall of Fame point guard that can help you get organized in those minutes, you don’t have to over-coach them.”
Heat Alum Mychal Mulder Drops 40
Clearly, Pat Riley and the Heat organization think highly of Mychal Mulder. The journeyman guard has been signed by the team on a number of occasions over the years, from camp deals to multiple two-way pacts.
However, he has only ever seen actual main-roster minutes on two occasions for Miami, both of which came last season.
Nevertheless, the 28-year-old continues to strut his stuff for the team’s G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. And during Wednesday’s bout with the G League Ignite crew, he was in rare form.
In 42 minutes of play, Mulder dropped a career-high 40 points on 12-of-21 shooting, hitting 9-of-16 from three along the way. He also added three rebounds, three assists and two steals in the 132-114 win.