It was Game 2 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, and the Boston Celtics were in control. Up by nine in the fourth quarter against the Miami Heat, the TD Garden crowd was roaring. When Grant Williams knocked down a big three-pointer to extend the lead, the building erupted. But that moment — and more importantly, what followed — completely shifted the tone of the game and, ultimately, the series.
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Fueled by adrenaline, Williams got in Jimmy Butler’s face and exchanged some heated words. It was basketball suicide.
Before Williams’ shot had gone in, Butler yelled, “Hell nah, he ain’t here.” Williams knew he had to respond and replied, “Nah, mother***er, I’m here.” This started as a small verbal spat but quickly turned into the most memorable playoff moment of that season.
Butler came right back with a shot of his own and then threw a few more jabs at Williams. Then, he took over. “Playoff Jimmy” had been unleashed.
“It’s literally the most corny trash talk you can imagine. And after that, we both blacked out. I don’t know what he said, [and] I don’t know what I said. We were just like head-to-head,” Williams narrated on Off The Record.
The forward admitted that he was just caught up in the moment. Williams’ team was in a good spot. He felt the energy. But he now believes he gave Butler the fuel needed to help the Heat win the series.
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“I think we were up by like six or whatever else. He ended up scoring, I think, three straight times on me, [in] those next three possessions. And they were tough shots…and also, we stopped scoring,” recalled Williams.
By the end of the third quarter, the Celtics were up 83-75, but Butler changed the game almost single-handedly in the fourth. The Heat outscored the home team 36-22 to register a 111-105 win. Butler had 27 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.
When Butler was asked if the heated exchange helped him in the final stretch, the now-Golden State Warriors forward said, “Yes, it did. But that’s just competition at its finest. He hit a big shot [and] started talking to me. I like that. I’m all for that. It makes me key in a lot more.”
Butler explained that when someone talks to him on the court, he gets fired up. It’s the competitive drive in the star forward that takes over, and the result often goes in his favor.
It was vintage Butler against the Celtics in 2023. The Heat ended up winning the series in seven games and played the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals, where they lost. Maybe if someone on the Nuggets had taken a shot at Jimmy, history would have been different.
