On May 5, Beijing time, when the Heat were missing the core of the backcourt Lowry in two consecutive Eastern Conference semifinals, they still defeated Philadelphia in a row to take a 2-0 lead. Butler's excellent performance is extremely critical, he contributed 22 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 steals on 8-of-15 shooting, turning into the heat's organizational forward brain role. In addition, the Heat led 2-0 in the series in 7 best-of-four games, all 16 of the previous 16 promotions.
It is worth mentioning that butler Heat has had five playoff assists in his double-double in his career, surpassing Tim Hardaway's 4 times and rising to the third place in Heat history.
The Heat's all-time playoff assists are in the top three in double-doubles:
1. Wade 13 times
2. James 7 times
3. Butler 5 times
When Butler's lackluster regular season performance this season met with questions from the outside world, Butler still led the Heat to the first place in the East. Entering the playoffs, Butler completely got rid of the "pretend death" mode and repeatedly played a tough offensive and defensive performance, proving that he was born for the big stage of the playoffs.
In the first half of this game, Butler only scored 8 points on the offensive end of 3-of-4, compared to Hiro's 16 points and Adebayo's 11 points, there is no doubt that there is still a little gap. It's just that Butler's first two quarters are more about opening the organizational mode, he sent the most 7 assists in the first half, leading the Heat to a 14-point lead at one point, and continuing to maintain an 8-point lead in the first half.
In the second half of the game, in the case of Philadelphia's counterattack and chasing points, Butler also strengthened his offensive aggressiveness, and he scored 12 points in the third quarter to continue to show offensive aggression. You know, Harden only scored 2 points in the third quarter, and the single quarter matched Butler to crush Harden 12-2, and Butler had already sent a double-double of 20 points and 10 assists in the first three quarters.
Butler scored another 2 points and 2 assists in the final quarter, taking a double-double stat of 22 points and 12 assists to lead the Heat to Philadelphia to take a 2-0 lead, and their promotion probability has exceeded 92%, pointing to the Eastern Conference Finals. You know, the Heat's all-time series 2-0 lead in 7 best-of-4 games, the previous 16 times all advanced, so the Heat are also optimistic about eliminating Philadelphia to advance to the East Finals.
(Text/Drunken Floating Life)