Jimmy Butler defined last night what it is to return to the courts in style. With 25 points, in the Garden against the Celtics and achieving the basket that sentenced the game in overtime. This is how the Heat star spent them to the misfortune of Boston fans.
He had not played for seven games due to injury, but little or nothing mattered to him. He was on court for 35 minutes and his offensive success added 15 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. He did everything to show that he is the soul of the Florida organization and, incidentally, finish off those from Massachusetts, who had lost only one of their last 15 games… Well, that’s two.
“Jimmy made two difficult baskets, very difficult. That what he does is give credit to his work, skill and development. He gets going in games like this; on the road and in a hostile environment. Tonight we were faced with two shots that in our defensive scheme he can live with, but Jimmy, who is a great player, made both”, comments Jaylen Brown, who had an excellent performance with 37 points and 14 rebounds.
The forward of the greens is not lacking a bit of reason. At the end of regulation, when he burns the ball the most, Butler hit two baskets that forced Jaylen Brown to hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to bring the game to the extra time. Already immersed in those five minutes of addition, Butler again took responsibility for the last pitch to put the final 116-120 with which the final horn sounded.
«Obviously, having Jimmy Butler back is something of great importance to us. He helps us in so many different ways,” says Tyler Herro, who closed out his night with 26 points. Bam Adebayo was also at a high level to sign 28 goals.
Boston, goodbye to the local streak
After 10 consecutive victories, the Garden took the knee. The Celtics fought as always, but this time they didn’t have that Jayson Tatum who has been named Player of the Month in the Eastern Conference. The All-Star stayed at 14 points with 5 of 18 shooting from the field (0 of 7 on 3-pointers). He had 12 rebounds, but he was far from playing at his usual level.
In his ‘absence’, and beyond Brown’s 37 points, the 18 points and 9 assists from Marcus Smart stood out, and the 18 points contributed by Grant Williams from the bench with a 4 of 6 three-pointer.
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)