According to a piece by Zach Harper at The Athletic, it was early in Jimmy Butler's first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves that he realized Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins weren't good fits for him.

“Nobody gives a [expletive] what you did in college once you get to the NBA,” a source close to the Timberwolves told The Athletic. “Karl failed to recognize that everybody is good in college. Look at (Carmelo Anthony). Bro won a (national championship) at Syracuse. He’s scrutinized at the NBA level as some sort of loser by some folks. KAT didn’t even do that at Kentucky.”

Some sources around the team posit the moment being in line with a Dec. 12 game against the Philadelphia 76ers in which Towns was thoroughly outplayed by “rival” big Joel Embiid. 

Butler was entering the final season of his contract and wanted an assurance he would get a max contract in free agency. With that seeming unlikely after the Wolves had already committed approximately $300 million to Towns and Wiggins, he began angling for a trade.

Butler infamously led a third string unit to a victory over the starters. Butler defended Towns and maybe took one shot attempt.

“Jimmy didn’t need to lead by scoring that day,” a team source said about that practice. “He wanted to lead by being the toughest MFer in the room. He put on a show and it was uncomfortable for a lot of people.”

The NBA has announced the uniform schedule for The Finals.

Game 1
Lakers: Gold/Icon
Heat: Black/Icon

Game 2
Lakers: Black/Classic
Heat: White/Association

Game 3
Heat: Black/Icon
Lakers: White/Association

Game 4
Heat: Black/Icon
Lakers: Gold/Icon

Game 5
Lakers: Purple/Statement
Heat: White/Association

Game 6
Heat: Black/Icon
Lakers: White/Association

Game 7
Lakers: Black/Classic
Heat: Black/Association

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Kevin Pelton of ESPN (@kpelton) preview the NBA Finals.

They discuss how these two teams made their way through the first three rounds, the key match-ups and tactical adjustments that will define the series, their Finals predictions, the Clippers moving on from Doc Rivers, bubble takeaways and much more.

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The Los Angeles Lakers are heavy favorites to win the Finals against the Miami Heat with BetOnline posting them at -350. 

The Lakers are nearly 78 percent likely to win the series, according to the implied odds. Miami is at +280 as the underdogs.

The Lakers are generally considered the NBA's most public team in terms of gamblers. 

The NBA released the schedule for the 2020 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, listed below. 

All games will be broadcast on ABC.

Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 30: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET
Game 2: Friday, Oct. 2: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET
Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 4: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 7:30 ET
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 6: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 9 ET
Game 5*: Friday, Oct. 9: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET
Game 6*: Sunday, Oct. 11: L.A. Lakers at Miami Heat, 7:30 ET
Game 7*: Tuesday, Oct. 13: Miami Heat at L.A. Lakers, 9 ET

* = if necessary

Bam Adebayo blamed himself for the Miami Heat's 121-108 loss to the Boston Celtics in game 5.

"I played like s---. Bottom line. I put that game on me. It's not my teammates' fault, it's not my coaches' fault, it's me. ... I missed too many shots I should have made. Put that one on me," said Adebayo.

The Heat still lead the series 3-2.

Adebayo had 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists, though he said he wasn't active enough defensively.

"I wasn't being the defensive anchor that I should have been. I don't think I was communicating fast enough. I feel like I was a step behind today," said Adebayo.

The Heat's loss was the 18th time this season they blew a lead of over 10 points.

Adebayo denied that he was injured, though he was a sleeve over his left arm.

"He wasn't favoring it. We're not making any excuses. Boston outplayed us in the second half," said Erik Spoelstra.

The Boston Celtics had serious interest in drafting Tyler Herro leading up to the 2019 NBA Draft.

Boston owned the 14th pick but the Miami Heat picked Herro at No. 13. The Celtics lost a coin flip to the Heat for the selection and they ended up selecting Romeo Langford at No. 14. 

"On NBA draft night last year there was a collective moan among the Boston Celtics brass right about the time the Miami Heat used the No. 13 pick to select Tyler Herro," wrote A. Sherrod Blakely this week.

Herro is averaging 20.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists through the first four games of the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Bam Adebayo aggravated a wrist injury at the end of Game 4 in which he was in visible pain.

Sources tell Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press that Adebayo is fine and will play in Game 5 on Friday. Adebayo will receive treatment for the injury between now and Game 5.

Adebayo initially injured his wrist in Game 3.

Adebayo is averaging 17.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 36.5 minutes per game in the playoffs.

Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler said that slow starts are hurting the Miami Heat following their 117-106 loss to the Boston Celtics in game 3.

The Heat now lead the series 2-1.

"I think it gets old, playing from behind consistently," said Butler after the game.

The Heat have trailed by double-digits in all three games, including going down by 20 in game 3.

They were down by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter of game 1, and 15 points in the third quarter of game 2. 

"We've got to start the game how we start the fourth.  feel like we're not the type of team where we can go through the motions and try and figure out everything in the first half, and then in the third or fourth, we just try to turn it on. It's not like that. We are not that type of team," said Adebayo following the loss.

Brad Stevens credited the Celtics' renewed aggression for the win. 

Butler added that the Heat have to go back to basics for game 4.

"We didn't play hard enough. I think we didn't do anything that we said that we were going to do. We knew how they were going to attack us. We weren't helping each other. We weren't making an extra pass a lot of the times. We have to play basketball the way we have been playing the games that we have been winning. We understand that."

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Jared Weiss of The Athletic (@JaredWeissNBA) break down the Celtics and the NBA playoffs.

They discuss Boston’s current series against the Heat, their classic vs. Toronto and the larger playoff picture.

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