Stat of the Day: Jimmy’s crunch struggles

Here’s something for Heat fans to ponder: Jimmy Butler is one of the least clutch players in the NBA — at least during the regular season.

I looked at all players who shot at least two “clutch1” field goal attempts per qualifying game last season. Scanning through the names, I noticed Butler was dead last in FG% out of 29 qualifying players, at 31.4%, and a ghastly 8.3% from three (not a typo).

Clutch stats are notoriously inconsistent year-to-year, so I checked back further to see if this was an anomaly. Nope.

Those are consistently abysmal numbers, even for crunchtime (when everyone shoots lower than usual percentages).

Butler has as steady a demeanor as anyone, and he has carried Miami in multiple legendary playoff performances. But during the regular season, his pathetic outside jump shot is a massive hindrance, and he doesn’t get rewarded by the refs with as many free throws as he does in other game situations.

How often have Miami fans seen Jimmy sizing up a defender before launching a difficult pull-up? Or seen him take a leaning three-pointer that never has a prayer?

It happens a lot.

However, there are three reasons why this isn’t particularly concerning: