After winning the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat were expected to cruise to the NBA Finals to face the Denver Nuggets.
Unfortunately for Miami, the Boston Celtics had no intentions of going home early and fought back by winning the next three games of the series, setting up Game 7 at TD Garden.
Although the Celtics showed some fight after getting dominated in the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Miami proved to be the better team by coming out on top in Game 7 in a convincing fashion.
With Miami making easy work of Boston in Game 7, the conversation quickly turned to which player would be named the MVP of the series, which ultimately was Jimmy Butler.
If Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green had a vote for who was MVP in the Eastern Conference Finals, he would’ve gone with Caleb Martin, as he said on his podcast via NBA Central.
Draymond Green says he would’ve voted for Caleb Martin over Jimmy Butler #AmpPartner pic.twitter.com/AFoyIUDTPA
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) May 30, 2023
Green was far from alone when believing that Martin should’ve gotten the nod over Butler, as the 27-year-old came one vote shy of getting the postseason award over his teammate.
During the regular season, Martin averaged only 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Heat, but that changed significantly during the NBA playoffs.
Martin bumped his averages up to 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs, which is impressive, to say the least.
Butler may have been the star attraction for the Heat, but Martin definitely deserved some recognition for his efforts during the postseason, as he’s played a vital role for Miami and will likely continue to do so during the Finals.
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