Caron Butler, trying to play in NBA Finals: ‘I believe in miracles’

Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks’ president of basketball operations, said that it is “near impossible” that Butler can come back and assist the Mavericks in their pursuit of a championship, and the likelihood becomes more remote with each passing day. But that hasn’t stopped Butler from showing up for practice, working up a sweat during postgame shootouts with teammates, or being the first player to hit the court for pregame workouts in this series.

The routine could all be an empty exercise with the season ending on Tuesday, should this series — which is tied at two games apiece entering Thursday’s Game 5 in Dallas — go the full seven games. Butler has had a front row, or at least second row, seat for every one of the Mavericks’ unbelievable comebacks this season, including the rally from a 15-point deficit to stun the Miami Heat in Game 2, and the dramatic, fever-ridden-Dirk-Nowitzki-fueled fourth-quarter rally in Game 4, but he remains hopeful that there is at least one more on the way — his own.

“I believe in miracles,” Butler said. “It’s still a chance.”

Butler targeted a comeback the moment he was told that the recovery time for his frightening knee injury — which resulted in his kneecap sliding about three inches up his thigh because of the torn tendon — would last four to six months. After his surgery, the 6-foot-7 forward asked his teammates to keep winning, and get to the NBA Finals, so that he could play again this season.

“I told him, ‘We’re going to do our part, you just make sure you’re ready,’ ” Mavericks guard Jason Terry said. “When you realize what he’s sacrificed, the commitment that he’s put in, that he’s made this season, prior to his injury, you realize his ultimate goal was to win a championship. And then for him to go down, but still be around and involved and positive every day, that was like a breath of fresh air.”

Terry and Jason Kidd have both said that the Mavericks are trying to win a championship for Butler. “It’s the ultimate tribute for your teammates to come out and say, ‘We’re going to win this thing for you.’ But at the end of the day, you still want to be out there,” Butler said. “You know, I ain’t dead. That’s when you get your tributes. I want to play.”