Jimmy butler stats vs celtics 2022 series#
Horford contested 29 more shots than any other Celtic in the series because he's always in the right spot. Horford is the best defender the Celtics have when it comes to contesting shots like the one Butler was about to attempt. "It seemed like he was going to go for the shot, but I had to make sure that I stayed solid and when he pulled up for the 3, I was like, let me contest the best way that I can. "I didn't know what he was going to do," said Horford, who was playing with a heavy heart after the death of his maternal grandfather earlier in the week. He got out in front of Butler and "loaded" - jargon for setting himself to defend against a player on a drive - with Horford between the Heat star and the basket. But if there was one player they could have picked to be in front of a streaking Butler in that moment, it was Al Horford. The Celtics were on the verge of a devastating defeat, blowing a vital series in one of the worst ways imaginable. And that is the man who came out to stop Butler. This is where the other side of the storyline comes in. A few moments later, the Celtics polished off the 100-96 victory to earn their first trip to the NBA Finals in 12 years with a series against the Golden State Warriors. So I'm living with it."īutler isn't a man of regrets, but the miss will sting. "My thought process was, 'Go for the win,' which I did," said Butler, who backed up his 47 points in Game 6 with 35 in Game 7. Instead, with himself and his team tired and hurting, Butler went for the haymaker.
And Butler is one of the league's best finishers around the rim, his strength and dexterity perfect for scoring in traffic. He had momentum and space, having started his own fast break after grabbing a rebound. One perfect swing at the right moment could knock out the favorite.īutler could've driven the ball to the rim and gone for the tie. The Heat had a puncher's chance, an underdog with nothing to lose who can take a wild risk. Had Butler's 3-pointer dropped with 15 seconds to play, the Heat would have taken a one-point lead - their first of the game. Seven times the Celtics had built their lead to double figures, and seven times the Heat clawed back.
Looking at the past two weeks fairly, this was a tied series only because of the Heat's mix of guile, timing and anti-inflammatories. The storyline Spoelstra was dreaming about? The Heat - battered, bruised and frankly undermanned in a physical series - had pulled a magic act to even get to Sunday's contest. Maybe it was fatigue, maybe it was the lingering soreness in his knee, maybe it was the pressure, but the ball ended up hitting the front of the rim. But Butler had played 47 minutes, 45 seconds of a 48-minute game, two days after he played for 47 minutes in Boston.
"Not again," thought Marcus Smart, who watched Butler nail a clutch shot over him at the end of Game 6.īutler posed as the ball approached the rim the nearby Heat bench coiled for a collective leap. "Oh," Celtics coach Ime Udoka said, "he's been making big shots all series." "I was like, man, what the hell," Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said. "I thought it would have been an incredible storyline for Jimmy to pull up and hit that 3." "I thought for sure it was going down," Spoelstra said. The emotions swelled in the Miami Heat coach's chest as he instinctively kicked out his legs in the final moments of Sunday's Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals inside FTX Arena. MIAMI - Erik Spoelstra's eyes traced the shot as it left Jimmy Butler's hands. NBA playoffs 2022: Jimmy Butler, Al Horford and the tense final seconds of Game 7 between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat
Jimmy butler stats vs celtics 2022 upgrade#
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