Miami Heat are not likely to win the NBA championship in the near future but at least they can rightly claim to be the free-throw champs.
Jimmy Butler led a record-breaking shooting display from the free-throw line as the Miami Heat claimed a 112-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Nothing remarkable there, but Miami did make all 40 of their free throws, breaking the record of 39-for-39 made by Utah against Portland in 1982.
With 23, Butler has tied with Dominique Wilkins for the second-highest number of foul shots in a game without a miss. “We’ve been a very good free-throw shooting team all year, but that’s crazy,” said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. “I didn’t realise we hadn’t missed a free throw.”
Butler scored a game-high 35 points in total - his final free throw with 12 seconds remaining proving to be the game. Miami trailed 111-106 with less than a minute remaining but fought back with a Victor Oladipo three-pointer and a Butler lay-up to tie the game.
Butler, 33, then extended his perfect record from the foul line to edge the Heat in front and set an NBA record. “I had no idea,” said the six-time NBA All-Star. “I’m more excited that we won this game by one point.” James Harden has the record of most free-throws in a game without a miss, scoring 24 for the Houston Rockets in 2019.
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