Butler played a "supergod" performance in front of the Bucks, why not in the Finals?

Before the official start of this year's playoffs, the Western Lakers and Warriors were infinitely optimistic about the following grams, just because they had won championships in recent years + had a superstar advantage. In contrast, teams such as the Eastern Conference Heat and Hawks were not favored until the start of the playoffs.

After all, the comprehensive strength of the Heat and the Hawks has a clear gap compared to the Bucks and Green Kai, and there is no superstar advantage. But even if it is not optimistic about the following grams, this year the Heat still completed the "Black Eight" feat under Butler's leadership...

23 years playoffs: Butler "supergod" in the first round, but his individual performance is not as good as one round

In the face of the Bucks, who have a stronger overall strength and two-time MVP blessing, the reason why the Heat successfully advanced to the second round (4-1) in this year's playoffs is mainly because Butler successfully broke out and played a "supergod" performance.

In this series, Butler averaged 37.6 points, 6.0 boards and 4.8 assists per game, shooting 60.9% from the field, both offensive and defensive performance and helping the team. I thought that this would be the starting point for Butler's "canonization" this year, but I didn't expect that his personal performance would be inferior to the next round...

In the second round of the playoffs, facing the Knicks, who had average overall strength and no superstar blessing, Butler did not continue to burst into performance. In this series, the average slipped to 24.6 points, 7.2 boards, 6.0 assists, and shot 43.8% from the field, only reaching the level of ordinary stars. Otherwise, with the form shown by the Heat and Butler in the first round, they are fully capable of winning four games in a row.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, although the Heat led Green Kai 3-0 early, G4, G5, and G6 Butler failed to lead the team to successfully harvest the game, so that he was forced by Green Kai to grab the seven. If it weren't for the abnormal performance of the Green Kai Double Probe Flower in the Seventh World War, in fact, the Heat would not have been able to rush out of the East this year.

Butler averaged 24.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game in the Eastern Conference finals, shooting 42.0% from the field, which is far from the strength he showed in the first round. I thought that after the outbreak of the first round, there would always be someone in the second round and the East Conference Heat rotation lineup, Butler was just "hiding" - when the team needed him, he was able to play "supergod" again.

But when the Finals Heat couldn't find a way to win in time and fell into adversity that trailed 3-1, Butler didn't step up. Averaged 21.6 points, 4.6 boards, 6.4 assists per game throughout the series, shooting 41.2% from the field; Even the Finals G5 only had 21 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, and a poor performance of 27.8% shooting...

So, Butler played a supernatural performance against the Bucks, why didn't the Finals work?

1. Compared with the Bucks, the Nuggets defense is more targeted and pressing. In the first round of the 21 playoffs, the Bucks vs Heat, this round of the series under the defense of the alphabet brother, Butler no longer has a magical performance - averaging 14.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game, 29.7% shooting percentage, and finally the Heat was directly swept out by the Bucks.

This year, the Bucks once again faced the Heat in the first round, but this time they did not use Alphabet to defend Butler, but Holladay with good defensive ability to defend Butler. Although Holladay's defensive ability and awareness are among the top in the league, it is only for the guard line, and he is obviously at a physical disadvantage against Butler.

After all, Butler's height of 2.01 meters and arm span of 2.02 meters may not be much for "talent monsters" such as Brother Alphabet and Leonard. But for the 1.91-meter Holladay, Butler has been able to dominate the body. So Holladay's defense and desire to win allowed Butler to play a "supergod" performance in the first round.

In the Finals against Gordon's defense, Butler would have a hard time taking advantage of the physical advantage. After all, Gordon's 2.03-meter height + 2.13-meter arm span, coupled with the dynamic talent of the "nine-point dunk king" - perhaps Gordon is inferior to Butler in terms of attack and organization, but he can limit and consume Butler well in terms of physical talent and defense.

Coupled with Jokic, Porter, Murray and others, they can all consume Butler at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, making Butler exhausted in the series. Compared to the Bucks' defense, the Nuggets successfully suppressed Butler with a more targeted and pressing defense.

2. The impact of injuries and physical strength caused Butler to fall into a state of fatigue. When he faced the Bucks in the first round of this year, Butler's health and physical strength were at their peak. But after eliminating the Knicks 4-2 in the second round and the Green Kai 4-3 in the Eastern Conference finals, Butler simply did not get enough time to rest.

And this year, Butler sprained his ankle in the second round and injured his knee in the east final. Although Butler was still able to force the field, frequent injuries also affected his form to some extent, so that when the team needed him to step up and score consistently, he was never able to play the first round.

Therefore, the reason why Butler failed to play the first round of this year's finals is actually mainly due to the impact of "injury + physical strength, opponent's defensive strategy". For example, if Marlon uses Murray to defend Butler, even if his physical strength is worried, Butler may not be able to regain the style of the first round, and he can use Gordon's main defense + the team's multi-point offense, you can easily "drag" Butler to death...