Jimmy Butler, perhaps the best-known barista in the entire NBA, does not offer discounts to his Miami Heat teammates in the coffee shop he set up in his hotel room within the NBA bubble. Even after a victory, everything at Big Face Coffee retains its $20 price.
The plan works, so Butler sees no need to change it.
The Heat could apply the same philosophy throughout the remainder of the NBA Finals. Butler played 45 minutes and had the ball in his hands on nearly every possession in the third game, which Miami won to bring the series to 2-1 against the Los Angeles Lakers. The fourth matchup is Tuesday night, and just like Butler's sales strategy, the Heat could stick to what works.
"There's no turning back," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He has to make things happen for us. He did it brilliantly last night, and he might have to do something very similar again. To achieve what we want to achieve, you can't settle for normal. You have to be extraordinary."
Butler finished with 40 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists in Miami's victory in the third game.
Extraordinary, the word Spoelstra used, doesn't even begin to describe his performance. Of the 8,175 appearances that players have made in the NBA Finals, Butler's was the first 40-point triple-double in a victory and one of only three regardless of the result.
He's a reluctant superstar. Butler swears he'd rather have his teammates pile up the stats and not him, even when Spoelstra has made it clear that he will ride Butler the rest of the series, especially if starters Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic remain injured.
"I think they know which buttons to push for me to play the way they want me to play," Butler said. "But I just want to win."
Butler and Lakers' star LeBron James have something in common. They're both the best players on their team. They both have a certain affinity for hard work and respect for those who join them in that commitment. Neither plans to go into a game expecting to rack up big numbers; they prefer to pick their spots and involve their teammates.
That might not be an option for Butler right now, and James was asked Monday if he contemplates doing the same.
"I never have a predetermine game," James said. "Throughout my whole life, I've never done that. What I've always been is always prepared. If you're prepared, then whatever happens in the game, you can adjust on the fly and you can make an impact, because you're prepared, because you worked. For me, it is as simple as that."
James shined as usual in the third game: 25 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. It just wasn't enough.