NEW YORK — He did it again.
Eight days after hitting a game-winning 3-pointer for his new team, 76ers star Jimmy Butler hit a shot from nearly the same spot on the floor with 2.3 seconds to play to give Philadelphia a 127-125 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
“Another play drawn up by [Sixers coach Brett Brown], and my teammates have a lot of confidence in me to take shots late,” Butler said. “I got to the spot that I wanted to get to. Raised up and I knocked it down.”
The shot gave Philadelphia a win after it trailed Brooklyn by 19 points midway through the third quarter. It also further solidified Butler’s reputation as a clutch player.
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Butler has five game-winning shots with 10 seconds or less remaining. Only Russell Westbrook (seven) has more in that span.
But Butler downplayed the idea that he is the Sixers’ go-to player in crunch time.
“To tell you the truth, it could have been anybody,” he said. “They do have a lot of confidence in me but I have so much more confidence in those guys.”
It’s worth noting that Butler is 2-for-3 on potential game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds of play since he was traded to the Sixers two weeks ago. His first make was a 3–pointer from the wing — nearly the same spot as his shot on Sunday — to give Philadelphia an overtime win against Charlotte.
All of Butler’s Sixers teammates are 1-for-13 in the past two seasons on such shots.
Brown said after the game that his top option on the Sixers’ final possession was for Butler to take a shot with his team trailing by two.
“Big-time player got to his spot and hit a big-time spot,” Joel Embiid said after scoring 32 points against Brooklyn.
Though it wasn’t due to lack of confidence in his teammates, Butler joked that he had no intention of passing the ball when he got it out of a timeout with a little under 10 seconds to play.
“I ain’t going to even stunt. I was shooting that ball,” Butler (34 points, 12 rebounds) said with a smile. “That ball was going up.”
Brown credited Butler for diving on the floor to force a jump ball with 12 seconds to play to set up the Sixers’ final possession.
“He was massive going down the stretch,” the coach said.
Butler also made a key defensive play to set up his game winner against the Hornets on Nov. 17. He blocked Kemba Walker‘s shot on a drive with 15 seconds left and then saved the ball from going out of bounds. Walker scored 60 points in the game.
“Jimmy did what Jimmy does and what he’s done for us before,” Brown said Sunday.
Butler’s shot helped Philadelphia avoid what would have been a second straight defeat to a sub-.500 team. The Sixers lost at home on Friday night to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had been winless on the road.
Philadelphia struggled defensively early on against the Nets, falling behind by 20 in the first half and trailing by 19 with 6:20 to play in the third quarter. Brown said the club began to double-team the pick-and-roll in the second half, which helped slow down Nets guards D’Angelo Russell (38 points) and Spencer Dinwiddie (31) points. The Sixers outscored Brooklyn by 15 in the fourth quarter.
“We started being more aggressive getting into the ball, doing what we were supposed to be doing,” Butler said.