“I texted him and told him I appreciate him for it. “D-Wade never hits me until his voice is really, really needed. Wade called him up to make sure Butler’s head and game were in the right space. He had 16 in the middle quarters, then closed with 17 in the fourth – when Boston’s big guns Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined to shoot a measly 1-for-2.īutler gave some credit to an old pal from the Chicago Bulls, a fellow product of Marquette University who blazed some Heat trails for Butler to heed: Dwyane Wade. The 6-foot-7 wing, 11 years in and with his fourth team, scored 14 in the first quarter to set a tone and spark the Heat. Butler’s not quite a legend like that, but he did polish his legacy a bit. Fact is, only one NBA player ever scored more with his back to the proverbial win-or-go-home wall, and that was Wilt Chamberlain dropping 50 on Boston in 1960. Instead, he put up probably the best performance of his career, in an elimination game, on the road. One more outing like those and he’d have had a sea of unstructured time to rest and rehab for October. You can misdefine him in a lot of different ways, but his competitive will is as high as anybody that has played this game.”įor two-and-a-half games, Butler’s sore right knee had stolen his explosiveness and bounce. Jimmy Butler is a great competitor – he really is. “I want our guys just to embrace this moment. “People can easily draw the comparisons between the two. I get it,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, same guy, same job as when James went off a decade ago. This time, it was Butler posting the heady numbers – 47 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals and a block – to give his team one more chance to get this right.
Back in 2012, it was James scoring 45 points to force the ECF to Miami for Game 7 and what became the Heat’s second consecutive Finals trip. That’s essentially what happened, though, with Jimmy Butler (LeButler?) in the spoiler role, denying the Celtics a trip to the Finals with an elimination-game performance for the ages. We didn’t intend to summon the spirit of LeBron James to TD Garden.
DO I HAVE TO PLAY HALF LIFE 1 BEFORE 2 SERIES
When we wrote in this space Thursday about the parallels between Boston’s situation in this East finals series and the predicament the Celtics found themselves in 10 years ago, it was meant as a reminder that even when things look awfully good – a 3-2 lead with Game 6 at home – they can go horribly wrong.
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