Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler scored 27 points and added eight rebounds and six assists to fuel a 111-105 victory on Friday night, giving his team a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals. Now the Heat are two wins from an NBA Finals birth with the next two games at home.
A significant catalyst in the Heat’s win was a trash-talking attempt by Celtics forward Grant Williams trying to size up Butler after a made 3-pointer midway in the fourth quarter. As Butler was making essential plays down the stretch, he was clearly motivated by Williams — staring him down throughout.
“Yes, it did,” Butler said when asked if Williams’ trash talk motivated him. “But that’s just competition at its finest. He hit a big shot and started talking to me. But I like that. It’s just competition. It pushes that will to win. It makes me smile. … I just don’t know if I was the best person to talk to.”
“But it’s just competition. I do respect him, though,” Butler explained. “He’s a big part of what they try to do. He switches. He can shoot the ball. I just don’t know if I’m the best person to talk to (laughter).”
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After Williams “poked the bear” in true Dillon Brooks fashion, Butler scored nine points to lead a 23-9 run — erasing a nine-point deficit to create a 105-100 lead for the Heat.
“I knew that was going to be good for us,” Heat forward Caleb Martin said of Williams trash-talking Butler. “We’ll take mad Jimmy at any time. You could kind of see it in his eyes he was ready to go after that.”
Butler’s impact made headlines, but the Heat received strong contributions from plenty of other players, too. Gabe Vincent scored 25 points off-the-bench while shooting 11-16 from the floor. Bam Adebayo added a staggering 22 points, 17 rebounds, and nine assists. It didn’t hurt that Miami received a combined 26 points from Duncan Robinson (15) and Max Strus (11).
“Caleb was huge, as was Bam. I just think we played high energy,” Butler said. “And everybody is going to focus in on that, but that’s for sure not the reason why we won the game.”
“I think what Caleb did tonight was incredible in keeping us in the game,” Butler explained. “You can’t leave him. He’s on everybody’s scouting report. He does everything that you ask him to do. And then Bam was Bam, rebounding, passing the ball, scoring the ball.”
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Williams expressed a major sense of respect for Butler when discussing whether he regrets trash-talking the Heat superstar. Most of the Celtics were unwilling to entertain the notion that their teammate “poked the bear” when asked in post-game interviews.
“He’s going to have to make every single tough shot the rest of the series,” Williams said. “And I’m not going to turn and look otherwise because I respect him as an (expletive) player.”
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For Boston, Jayson Tatum had 34 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists — providing a significant impact for much of the game, but not when it mattered most. He shot 0-3 and turned it over twice in the fourth quarter — proving unable to prevent his team from losing despite holding an 89-77 lead.
“It’s tough. It’s a challenge. But there’s no point being up here sad and (stuff),” Tatum said. “They came in and won two games. They played well; you give them credit. But we’re not dead or anything. We’ve got a great opportunity. I still have the utmost confidence. Everybody has the utmost confidence. We’ve just got to get ready for Game 3.”
Miami outscored Boston 36-22 in the final quarter and not only was Tatum underwhelming, but his co-star — Jaylen Brown — finished the game with just 16 points while shooting 7-23 overall. He is eligible for a supermax contract extension after being named to the All-NBA Second-Team.
“Some healthy competition. I ain’t going to lie to you. Healthy competition. And I love it. I’m always here to compete. I like to talk, at times,” Butler said. “As long as we get the win, I’m good with it.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat & Boston Celtics Updates
The Celtics often settled for 3s in the fourth quarter, while the Heat took advantage. Butler attacked the rim to trim Boston’s lead to six following a missed 3 from Tatum.
After Tatum missed from long distance — one of three missed 3s in the fourth quarter — Butler drove to the basket to make it a four-point Boston lead. Miami tied it up at 100-100 after Butler converted a short-range pull-up, then took the lead using his fadeaway. With Strus splitting a pair of free throws, then Adebayo cleaning up the miss with a putback dunk, the Heat led 105-100 with just under a minute left — placing the Celtics in a highly disadvantaged position.
“I love that gnarly version of Jimmy,” Spoelstra said. “But you get that regardless. I think now people are just paying more attention. … Jimmy is just a real competitor.”
The Celtics and Heat will face off Sunday in Game 3 at Kaseya Center.
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