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Jimmy Butler, Heat Fined After Star's Obscene Gesture During Game 5 vs. Hawks
April 28, 2022
Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Thursday for his actions during Tuesday's Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The NBA announced Butler was fined for making an obscene gesture from the bench area, while the Heat organization was fined $15,000 as well for posting the gesture on social media:
Butler did not play in Miami's series-clinching 97-94 win on Tuesday because of a knee injury, but he was on the sideline during the game.
Two years after leading the Heat to the NBA Finals, Butler has Miami back in contention as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
During the regular season, the 32-year-old Butler averaged 21.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.6 steals per contest in 57 games en route to his sixth career All-Star selection.
Butler also played a huge role in Miami going 53-29, which was tied for the third-best mark in the NBA.
He was firing on all cylinders during the first four games of Miami's first-round series against Atlanta, averaging 30.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals.
Miami won three of those four games, but didn't have him available for the close-out contest in Game 5 because of knee inflammation.
Even without their best player, the Heat prevailed, led by 20 points and 11 rebounds from Bam Adebayo, as well as a team-high 23 points from Victor Oladipo, who replaced Butler in the starting lineup.
Winning in Game 5 afforded Butler more time to get healthy and prepared for Miami's second-round series.
While it is already known that the second-seeded Boston Celtics and third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks will meet in the second round, the Heat are waiting to see who their opponent will be.
The No. 4 Philadelphia 76ers hold a 3-2 series lead over the No. 5 Toronto Raptors and will have a chance to close out the series Thursday night in Game 6.