Playoff Jimmy Butler is real. Well, Jimmy doesn’t want to admit it as he took to his postgame availability to say that he ‘just hoops’ throughout the year but it’s clear that Butler doesn’t care enough about the regular season to go out and drop 40+,50+ point games like he does when the Playoffs arrive.
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In tonight’s Game 4 between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat, Giannis Antetokounmpo made his return from his back injury. He would notch his 3rd career postseason triple double but it wouldn’t be enough to withstand Butler and his heroics.
The Bucks held a 15 point lead over the Heat with about one minute and 30 seconds left in the 3rd quarter and looked poised to tie up the series at two games a piece. Unfortunately for them, Jimmy decided to turn it up on the offensive end of the floor, eclipsing what he had done in Game 1 of this series by a wide margin.
Reggie Miller on Jimmy Butler and his 56 points
Jimmy Butler had himself a 3 and a stepback jumper in the final 80 seconds of Game 4 to put the Heat up 112-109. He would then drain 5 free throws in the final minute of the bout to put Miami up for good. The comeback by the Heat was fuelled by Jimmy and it clearly had Reggie Miller feeling a certain type of way.
“This may be the greatest Playoff performance by any Heat player and that’s saying a lot about Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and all the championship [players]…Alonzo Mourning that’s been in this uniform. This might be the greatest,” said Miller while commenting with Kevin Harlan.
Jimmy has had quite a lot of incredible games in the postseason, with his 2020 Bubble run being his most memorable. He’s dropped a 40-point triple double in Game 3 of the NBA Finals and he’s also had himself games like Game 5 against Boston in last year’s ECF where he had 47 points.
Is Butler’s 56 the greatest Heat Playoff performance of all time?
There is a lot to choose from when it comes to great Miami Heat Playoff moments. Considering he fact that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have played in a Heat uniform, it’s easy to say that what Miller said was blasphemous.
James’s 45 against Boston in Game 6 of the 2012 ECF comes to mind along with his 37 against the Spurs in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. Any game from Dwyane Wade after Game 2 in the 2006 NBA Finals is up there as well.
While this may have been the most points scored in a Heat Playoff game, it might not be the greatest given the fact that this is merely the first round. However, with this game being against the number one seeded Milwaukee Bucks- it is quite the toss-up.
