Nyou are well served for disrespecting a guy as complete and winning as Jimmy Butler. We have spent these Playoffs talking about what they were Doncicabout what Curry dominated them, from the return of Thompson one of them Tatum will finally take the Celtics to the Promised Land. And it turns out that the protagonist was Jimmy Butler.
Of course if in the end Heat do not reach the NBA Finals winning in the seventh, the prodigious game of Butler and company will soon be forgotten. But until that day, Butler deserves all the NBA spotlight. Absolutely everyone.
Few, very few trusted the Heat who were barely left standing at the end of the fifth game. The feeling was that this was as far as they had come. Serious physical problems and poor performance of key parts made a reaction unthinkable. Well, there has been. The Heat They went to the TD Garden and attacked it to extend the series one more game, put those two words that are so popular in the NBA: Game 7.
To do so, Butler copied what he did 10 years ago LeBron James also with the Heat. I chose the best time to do it. The analogy is brutal.
2012: The Heat win in Boston and force the seventh in Miami. LeBron James: 25 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists.
2022: The Heat win in Boston and force the seventh in Miami. Jimmy Butler: 47 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists
Erik Spoelstra, the coach of the Heat, said of his player that “it’s the complete player definition in the NBA.” Jimmy ‘Buckets’ copied LeBron and imbued himself with the spirit of Dwyane Wade to give us the best individual performance in these Playoffs. He needs to finish off in the seventh.
I finally appeared Kyle Lowry and the Heat took notice. Without the shooting guard back at a high level, we’d probably be talking about a memorable but sterile performance from Butler. Lowry had 18 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes of play, in his best game of these Playoffs. He was asked to appear and he did so at the best time.
Pero no slo Lowry. Max Strus contributed 13 points, with 3 of 8 in triples after two very bad games, and P.J. Tucker those 11.
To win the seventh in Miami, the Heat they would return to the Finals two years later. The Florida team participated in the finals against the Lakers from the Orlando bubble in 2020 that the Angelenos won 4-2, precisely with LeBron. For the Celtics, winning the seventh would mean returning to the Finals 12 years later. The last ones they played were also against the Lakers, by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, and they lost them in 2010. Golden State Warriorswho beat the Mavs 4-1 in the West, is already waiting for a rival.