The good news is that a stellar performance from All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler led the Miami Heat to a win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The bad news? That seemed to wake up superstar forward LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 as the Western Conference powerhouse now holds a 3-1 series lead over Butler and the Heat.
With the Lakers now just one win away from the heralded franchise’s latest title, former Chicago Bulls forward and NBA legend Scottie Pippen believes that Butler challenged James’ manhood in Game 3 while “King James” then promptly responded come Game 4 on Tuesday evening down in Orlando (via ESPN’s “The Jump”).
James and the Lakers ran away with both Game 1 and Game 2 to open the pivotal series in the NBA bubble. However, Butler and company did respond in a big way in Game 3 even though the Heat have been decimated by significant injuries to more than one key player since the start of this season. With the NBA Finals surely serving as some seriously entertaining television for a variety of different reasons thus far, it remains to be seen as to whether the Heat can extend this series past five games or not.
If James is able to lead the Lakers to a championship in 2019-20, it would be his fourth NBA title overall. Not only that, but it would be James’ fourth title with his third different franchise after twice winning it all with the Heat in addition to bringing a title back to the Cleveland Cavaliers just a few seasons ago.
