The Miami Heat won their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at FTX Arena on Tuesday night without missing a single free throw, breaking the previous NBA record.
With Jimmy Butler leading the way and remarkably making all 23 of his attempts, in their 112-111 victory, the Heat made 40/40 free throws.
The Heat broke the previous mark of 39 made free throws set by the Utah Jazz against the Portland Trail Blazers in 1982 with Butler’s 23rd and final attempt of the game, which was made with just over 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Erik Spoelstra, the head coach of the Heat, told reporters after the game, “We’ve had a great year shooting free throws, but that’s unbelievable.”
Butler scored 35 points in the game’s final minutes to become the first player in league history to do so while making no more than six field goals.
The 33-year-old also shared the league record for most successful free throws without a miss with Dominique Wilkins of the NBA Hall of Fame, who holds the record with 24.
The record came at the end of a wild night in Miami, during Heat trailed 111-106 with under a minute left.
Dewayne Dedmon, a center for the Heat, was dismissed from the match after throwing a massage gun onto the playing area after getting into an argument with a member of the team’s coaching staff, on top of having to play without six injured players.
The Miami Heat are having a typical Tuesday night, according to Spoelstra. “In my opinion, this is when we are the happiest, when everything happens, and when all of our competitive juices are released. We can all identify with that group of players. I like that particular team. “.
In the absence of crucial starters Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry, and Caleb Martin, Max Strus scored 22 points, and Victor Oladipo added 19 as the Heat managed to reclaim a significant victory.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 26 points, while Josh Giddey, a second-year point guard, had a triple-double in the defeat with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and ten assists.
Miami’s record now stands at 22-20 after the win, while the Thunder’s record drops to 18-23.