On April 20, Beijing time, the second game of the first round of the heat and the Eagles playoffs was carried out to 1 minute and 36 seconds before the final game, Jimmy Butler held the ball at the top of the arc and pulled to the right wing, facing the pinch of two defenders, the difficult drift three-point shot, the ball under the watchful eyes of nearly 20,000 spectators on the scene, crossed an arc that was not high, hollow hit!
It was Butler's fourth three-point shot in the game and his 43rd, setting a new career playoff single-game scoring record. What's more, the three-point shot that pulled the field score back to 109-101, an 8-point gap, was enough to ensure the Heat won the game with less than 100 seconds left in the game.
In the first round of the playoffs, a 2-0 lead, such a victory, seems to be nothing. But at this point in his career, re-proving himself with a near-perfect performance has extraordinary significance for Butler, who is 32 years old, once controversial, and still empty-handed.
About Butler's story, everyone should have been familiar with it for a long time, in short, he is not a natural star, on the contrary, in his growth process, there is always a mixture of dislike and doubt. Even though he has been selected as an All-Star six times, even if he has led this Heat to the NBA Finals, the outside world still has a mixed reputation for him.
Butler always seemed to be causing trouble. In a Heat game against the Warriors on March 24, he clashed with team coach Eric Spoorstra and veteran captain Uduñis Haslem during a timeout, who in a fit of rage even threatened to fix him.
This scene was fully recorded by the camera, and soon spread throughout social networks, and people's "bad" memories of Butler were suddenly reawakened - when he first played for the Bulls, he had rumors of discord with Derrick Rose, and later switched to the Timberwolves, and publicly accused the two young All-Star teammates of breaking with the team completely and creating a palace farce. Then came the 76ers, who were still seen as destabilizing within the team.
Similar examples, we can also give a lot of examples, and all of this is an important reason why Butler is not liked by many people.
But even people who don't like Butler anymore can't deny that this guy is "hard enough."
As the No. 30 rookie in the first round, Butler did not start his career high, averaging only 8.5 minutes of playing time per game in his rookie season, with a pitiful 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds. But by the final year of his rookie contract, he averaged 20 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and was successfully named an All-Star.
In fact, in his final three seasons with the Bulls, Butler was named an All-Star every year. Questioning his ambitions, people overlooked that it was his meteoric rise that allowed the Bulls to retain a place among competitors despite Rose's sharp decline in injury-plagued condition.
In the fall of 2018, Butler made a big fuss in Minnesota, eventually forcing the team to trade him to the 76ers, causing the team owner to later admit that it was a mistake to trade him from the Bulls. But the truth is, it was under Butler's leadership that the Timberwolves ended an embarrassing 13-year record of not making the playoffs, and after he left, the team immediately returned to the lottery.
In the rematch park of Orlando in 2020, Butler reached the peak of his career, leading the Heat to eliminate the Pacers, Bucks and Celtics all the way to the Finals. Although in that round of the series of battles with the Lakers, Adebayo and Dragic were injured successively, and the Heat finally lost the championship 2-4, Butler averaged 26.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game, shooting as high as 55.2%, even against LeBron James, it was not at all down!
Butler's reputation for being "tough" was once clouded by the Heat's first-round exit last season. In that series of battles with old rival Bucks, Butler averaged only 14.5 points per game, shooting a pitiful 29.7%, and the Heat were swept away, making his contribution of 7.5 points and 7 rebounds per game seemed worthless.
But Butler himself doesn't seem to have been greatly affected, and no matter what he's been through, his heart is as firm as ever.
"Our goal is to win 16 games," Butler said before the playoffs this year, "and we have to take the first game, then the second game, all the way to the finish." ”
Asked if last year's playoff defeat would give him and the team extra momentum, Butler's response was different from what many thought: "Not at all!" ”
As for the friction that occurred between the coach and teammates before, it was never worth mentioning in the eyes of the parties. Because that's what often happens between family members: arguing, bridging, facing up to conflicts, resolving problems, and then moving on.
Like the Heat veteran Dragic's comment on the matter: "It's normal, I've been there for 7 years, and that's how we've always been." ”
The Heat's on-court performance also proved that this small storm did not have much impact. In the last seven games of the regular season, they won 6 and lost 1 – the only defeat was because of the final game, and they took off all the main players. In the end, they won 53-29, the top seed in the East, and ushered in the long-awaited playoffs.
Butler, who missed 20 games in the regular season due to injury, is also ready for the real fight.
"I know we all want to win the championship, that's our goal. It's also the reason coach Pat (Riley) put this team together. Butler said.
In the first series with the Hawks, the Heat were bloodless, and with a tough defense, they let the two best offensive players, Trae Young and Bogdanovic, hit only 1 goal in 20 shots, and Duncan Robinson provided ferocious firepower on the bench, shooting 8-of-9 from outside the three-point line. Butler contributed 21 points in just 15 shots to easily lead the team to a 1-0 lead.
But in today's second game between the two sides, the Hawks showed the fighting spirit and tenacity that a playoff team should have, Trae Young scored 25 points with a 50% shooting rate, and Bogdanovic hit 19 points in the fourth quarter on 8-of-12 shooting, helping the Hawks regain hope of winning with a maximum of 16 points behind.
The game was played by the last 2 and a half minutes, and the Heat only led by 3 points at 104-101, a one-goal gap, and anything could happen.
But at the crucial moment, Butler stepped forward, and he broke through the inside line 2 minutes and 16 seconds before the final game to complete a two-handed dunk, equaling his playoff career-high single-game scoring of 40 points, while widening the point difference to 5 points. Then, there's the goal that killed the game at the beginning of the article.
After 16 seconds, Butler hit the basket again, hitting a left-handed layup that set his scoring record at 45 points. Throughout the game, he made 25 shots, hit 15 shots, shot 4 of 7 from outside the three-point line, 11 of 12 from the free throw line, and contributed 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, and did not have a single turnover or foul. During the game, the Heat won by 19 points!
In the 2021-22 regular season, the Heat achieved great success, in the case of the core players taking turns to be injured, with internal mining to ensure continuous combat effectiveness, and finally won the first division first in the "post-LeBron era".
But when the playoffs kick off and the real battle begins, they should be clear about who will decide the key to success or failure.
'We've been doing great all season, everybody's talking about the title and I really, really feel like we have a chance.' Jimmy Butler said.