Jimmy Butler on Heat's Finals Loss to Lakers: We 'Think That We Should Have Won'

The Miami Heat exceeded expectations just by reaching the 2020 NBA Finals inside the Walt Disney World Resort bubble, but Jimmy Butler still believes they should have beaten the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers.

"We still think that we should have won—and we were down a couple of guys," he said in a profile by Zito Madu of GQ.

Both Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo battled through injuries during the series, leaving the Heat without two of their top playmakers for extended stretches.

Adebayo figured to be Miami's best counter to Anthony Davis defensively and posed a matchup problem on the other end because of his versatility, while Dragic is a playmaking creator who can either score himself or set up his teammates for open looks.

Their absences and the fact they were less than 100 percent put even more pressure on Butler, and he largely delivered by helping his team push the series to six games and battling with LeBron James.

He averaged 26.2 points, 9.8 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game while shooting 54.6 percent from the field during the series.

Butler was particularly impressive in Game 5 when he tallied a triple-double of 35 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and five steals while outdueling James down the stretch. He famously slumped over in pure exhaustion during the final minutes, and he addressed the idea that perception of him changed during that performance:

"Now everybody has a different outlook on who I am as a person and as a teammate and as a player, and I've been that same dude since I've become somebody in the league. You just saw me win a couple of games, so now you want to try to change that narrative? I don't care about none of that. It means that I'm going to go out there and I'm going to compete."

"That's me in everything that I do. Now, you know people want to try to switch up on me. Nah. I am where I need to be, where I want to be. In Miami. They love me for that."

The goal of returning to the NBA Finals and this time winning remains, but Miami is off to an uneven 4-5 start to the 2020-21 campaign.

If Butler plays as he did for those Finals, that inconsistency figures to turn around in the immediate future.