Jimmy Butler: 'I Gotta Put Pressure on the Rim' After Heat's Game 1 Loss vs. Nuggets

If the Miami Heat are going to have any shot of winning the NBA Finals, Jimmy Butler knows he needs to be better.

It all starts with him.

And on a night when he was poor offensively, finishing with just 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, the rest of the Heat followed suit. They struggled to knock down shots for large portions of the night in a 104-93 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

What was perhaps most concerning was Butler's lack of signature aggressiveness that has helped him dominate the postseason. A wizard at getting to the free-throw line, he didn't have a single attempt from the stripe.

Miami only had two free-throw attempts as a team, which came courtesy of Haywood Highsmith off the bench.

Butler doesn't plan on that happening again anytime soon.

"I gotta put pressure on the rim," Butler said postgame. "Me with no free throws, that was all on myself. Nobody else. We'll definitely correct that next game, but only I can do that."

Butler also struggled at times during the Eastern Conference Finals but was able to find his way when his team needed it most. The Heat will be counting on that happening the rest of the way.

Miami shot 40.6 percent rom the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range with its star player having an off night. And it managed to cut the deficit to just nine points with a few minutes remaining.

So there are reasons for optimism in South Beach.

Bam Adebayo also had a good offensive game against Nikola Jokić, finishing with a team-high 26 points to go along with 13 rebounds and five assists.

Game 2 of the NBA Finals is set for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.