Jimmy Butler’s Heat free throws are way down as NBA blurs the line on foul calls

DETROIT — It might have stood as the starkest statistic for the Miami Heat from Wednesday night’s loss to the Denver Nuggets at Kaseya Center had it also not happened a week earlier:

Jimmy Butler attempted only two free throws.

Granted, Butler had missed practice the day earlier with what the team listed as an illness, but it’s not as if total aggression was sapped. Still, when Thomas Bryant takes twice as many foul shots, something seemingly is off.

Or has changed.

In the wake of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver being asked during the mid-February All-Star break about the league’s runaway scoring this season, points, and particularly free throws have been down across the board.

There may be no more stark example than that of Butler, who consistently has averaged at least eight free-throw attempts per game in his five seasons with the Heat.

During the four-game losing streak the Heat carry into the four-game trip that opens with Friday night’s game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena, Butler has attempted, in order, two free throws last Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks, six against the Oklahoma City Thunder the following night, six Sunday against the Washington Wizards and then the two in Wednesday night’s 110-88 loss to the Nuggets.

As a matter of perspective, Butler attempted at least 11 free throws in six of his 10 appearances during the Heat’s run of 11 victories in 14 games that preceded this losing streak.

“I don’t know,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about the drop-off in Butler’s trips to the line. “I think that’s an adjustment from the league. The staff has been talking about that. I didn’t receive a memo about it. But it’s clear that they’re calling it a little more like that.”

Spoelstra said the next step is to attack the parameters.

“So, hey, we have to make the adjustment,” Spoelstra said. “And I think that’s a good adjustment. Go to score, not necessarily to draw fouls. Now, Jimmy’s got a rugged game, he’s not (playing to) draw fouls. He’s going to wherever the contact may be.”

Silver, during his comments at All-Star Saturday, indicated such change could be forthcoming.

“I actually am pleased with the state of the game,” he said last month. “Having said that, I know there are some coaches who feel that we’ve hampered in some ways defensive players’ ability to play defense, at least the way it used to be played in this league. In part, that’s been very intentional. There was a period of time in this league when people thought the game had become too physical and we’d taken away some of the aesthetic beauty from the game. I was one of those people that felt that way in the ’90s.

“Whether or not there needs to be any adjustments now is something we listen to our coaches, we listen to our players, and the competition committee will continue to consider.”

But nothing formal has been forwarded to teams or voiced by the league’s officiating executives.

Still, Spoelstra said it is clear a proactive approach may be necessary.

“And, yeah, from my vantage point, it looks like some of those are fouls,” Spoelstra said of Butler’s contact-creating style. “Certainly in the last three or four games, those were typically fouls.

“But that’s not why we’re losing games. He’ll make the adjustment, whether he just has to go into shot-making mode That might have to be the adjustment.”

Butler declined comment after Wednesday night’s loss to the Nuggets in the rematch of last season’s NBA Finals.

But Spoelstra said the onus is on the coaching staff to adapt.

“I have to do a better job getting our guys into their strength zones, where we can still be aggressive and attack, but a different part of  the menu,” he said. “And we’ll get to work on that.

“Yes, it’s frustrating but all we’re going to focus on is what we can do to get better and have a great road trip.”