56 points on 19-of-28 shooting, 9 boards and 2 assists,
He scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, grabbed 11 of the team's final 19 points, and assisted on a 3-pointer from Kleb Martin.
Today's Jimmy Butler once again explains the meaning of "TOUGH" in the NBA and in the playoffs.
Why don't you be number one in the Bucks League?
Why are you afraid of my brother's return?
In the playoffs, I am not afraid of any opponent.
Now please tell me out loud,
Jimmy Butler, is the NBA's "Superstar"?
First, when it comes to the playoffs, Butler transforms, and Butler understands the gold content of "supergiant"
56 points in a single game, not only broke the Miami Heat's all-time playoff scoring record, this three-time championship-winning team has had top players such as LeBron and Wade in history.
Even in NBA history, it ranked fourth, behind Mitchell's 57 points in 2020, Grandpa Baylor's 61 in 1962, and Butler's "father on basketball" and the great Michael Jordan's 63 points in 1986.
This is not the first time Butler has "exploded" in the playoffs,
In fact, in the five years since the '18-19 season, he's outperformed the regular season in four playoffs.
In the Eastern Conference semifinals of 19, he fought passionately against the Raptors' "peak card",
In 20 years, he led the team all the way to the Finals, ruined the Lakers' "Mamba jersey to win the championship", and only won two victories from Zhan Mei that year.
Last year, he played with the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, and he was only one three-point away from reaching the Finals.
In the past five years, under Butler, there are Alphabet Brother, Green Army Double Tanhua, Harden, Embiid, Trae Young,
If they can all be called supergiants, then what is Butler?
The unspoken rule of the NBA is,
Regular season data collection and individual awards,
Playoff competition for championships and collective honors,
Those who have both, and the combination of the best, can be called a "superstar".
In the 82 regular season games, flying around the United States + Canada, most of the teams are laid out according to the established system and policy, testing the "endurance" and regular output of the stars.
But in the playoffs, when the opponent is locked and there is a lot of time and energy to make targeted arrangements
Then the test is the personal color and hard solution ability of the team boss.
Therefore, in the history of the NBA, a large number of "pseudo-superstars" whose regular season performance is very different from the playoffs have been born.
Some of them can kill all sides in the regular season because of the team system and personal playing style, MVP and the first in the regular season to get soft, but in the playoffs "high-end game" performance is sluggish,
For example, Harden, Wilson, and Novitsky in the early career period.
Some are accustomed to tepid in the regular season, but in the playoffs they immediately turn into horror killers, only showing their horror fangs for two months a year,
Such as James Worthy in the early years, Leonard in the Spurs and Raptors, and Jimmy Butler in recent years.
Second, the so-called "supergiant" is indispensable for ability, reputation and achievements
But neither of them is actually "walking on two legs",
True energy is called supergiant in an era, and ability (personal data), fame (on-field and off-field influence), and achievement (collective honor) are indispensable.
The absence of any of the three will be blamed.
For example, Harden is the 2018 MVP, three-time scoring + assist king, and scored the most regular season points in the second decade of the 21st century, but the championship became his heart,
Curry before 2022, the Finals MVP is a stone that he and his fans can never put down,
Leonard, who has a two-time championship + FMVP, has only one year in the MVP top three, and his career total (12324) is not comparable to Tobias Harris (13398) in the same year.
Only your regular season and playoff performances are beyond reproach, and only if you achieve both individual awards and collective honors can you be considered a viable Superstar.
Even, the truly epoch-making supergiant, the playoff performance is still above the regular season.
Jordan scored 30.1 in the regular season and a terrible 33.4 in the playoffs,
LeBron regular season 27+8+7, playoffs 29+9+7,
Curry 24.6 in the regular season, 26.7 in the playoffs,
In the historical top 11 that can basically reach consensus, (Jordan, Russell, LeBron, Skyhook, Magic, Bird, Sharks, Kobe, Duncan, Chamberlain, Curry).
The only one who performed significantly worse in the playoffs than in the regular season was Chamberlain the "Big Big Dipper".
(30.1 points and 22.9 boards in the regular season, 22.5 points and 24.5 boards in the playoffs)
Third, in this era, how many so-called "supergiants" are there?
In any era of the NBA, there have never been more than five people who can truly be called "supergiants".
The so-called supergiant must not only have extraordinary achievements, but also have the strength to influence and dominate the alliance.
Relying on past exploits and the popularity of the fans, it is difficult to convince the public.
For example, Jordan in the Wizards period is still admired by thousands of people, but the team can't even make the playoffs,
Kobe Bryant in the 14-16 period, the popularity is still the same, but the Lakers are already at the bottom of the West,
Dirk in 11 years was of course a supergiant, but in 19 his status was not as good as Doncic, who had just joined the team,
Even LeBron last season, who thinks he can dominate the league?
By this standard, the only people who can really be called "supergiants" in today's league are LeBron, Curry, Durant, and at most one alphabet brother.
They have won championships, MVPs, FMVPs more than once, have had their own NBA season, and have played the dominant playoffs and finals,
At the same time, they have played excellent performances this season, and LeBron, who is the "worst performer with the team", also averaged 28.9 points, 7.1 boards and 6.8 assists per game, and also took the Lakers from the opening 2-10 to the seventh place in the West.
Whether you love him or hate him, you can't ignore their strength.
Among the rest, Wilson and Harden are still missing championships, the Great is about to be crowned his first MVP, Mr. Jo has not yet proven himself in the playoffs, and Doncic's performance this season is even more sparse.
And Leonard looks physically struggling to last a full season.
The rest are even worse.
As for Butler, he has proven himself in the playoffs more than once, and has become a recognized "Finals goalie" and "superstar quality inspector" in the Eastern Division.
But admittedly, he has never averaged 25+ seasons per game in his career, his MVP ranking is 10th (as of last season), he has only won the steal title once (20-21 season), and he has reached the league's three teams (4 times).
Compared to the regular-season stars mentioned above, he lacks a regular-season season of his own more than Leonard.
Of course, this is also related to his character and experience.
He was just a first-round No. 30 pick (2011), and he was supposed to be the same as Derek Rose in high school, but by the time he entered the NBA from college, Rose was already the youngest MVP in history.
He played from the bottom of the league to the stalwart of the team, but he was not regarded as the team boss before joining the Heat, and he worked hard to give Embiid and Towns the bottom,
But in the eyes of the team management, it is not as good as Simmons, Wiggins, and even Tobias Harris!
After being invited to the Heat by Pat Riley, he also saw through it, had already looked down on personal data, and served the whole team.
He's the biggest card on the team, the one who earns the most.
But in the Heat's four years, he only had one year as the team's most shots (20-21 season), but only 14.2 per game for a star.
But with that, the Heat became the easiest place for grassroots and young players across the league.
From Nunn, Hiero, Dunroe to now Strus, Martin and Vincent, they have all been given status and opportunities here that they would not have imagined anywhere else.
Over the years, Butler has been telling his teammates with practical actions:
You are in the regular season when you are in the limelight, and when the playoffs are in trouble, I will shoot again, the real boss.
As for what "supergiant" title,
It's like when he was selected as an All-Star in 2018 but didn't go on for a minute,
He doesn't care about any name, he just wants a team and a city worth fighting for, and victory after victory with courage and willpower like today.