Ever since Jimmy Butler joined the Miami Heat just prior to the 2019-20 season, he has made them into a championship contender.
Despite not having as much talent as the NBA’s other elite teams, they have consistently overcome expectations and defeated several more talented squads in the playoffs thanks to Butler’s excellence.
He loves to shine in crunch time and has always raised his game in the postseason, but this year, he has taken things to a new level.
In 10 playoff games so far this spring, Butler has averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists a game, making him only the third Heat player to average at least 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists throughout a playoff run.
The other two were legends LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
Jimmy Butler this playoffs:
31.1 PPG
6.6 RPG
5.4 APG
52.7 FG%Joins Wade and LeBron as the only Heat to average 30/5/5 in a playoff run. pic.twitter.com/DfGQ5XTq9x
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 17, 2023
Throughout the regular season, Miami played inconsistent ball and was weak offensively; in fact, they were the only team to average less than 110 points per game.
They finished seventh in the Eastern Conference, which meant they had to participate in the play-in tournament to get to the playoffs.
After losing their first play-in game to the Atlanta Hawks, they got past the Chicago Bulls behind Butler’s 31 points, and they proceeded to upset the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks for the second time in four seasons.
The Heat then up-ended the New York Knicks in five games in the second round of the playoffs to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in four years.
Butler led the way in the first round with 56 points in Game 4 and 42 points in Game 5 to help Miami brush off Giannis Antetokounmpo’s crew.
He will need to continue to play at this type of level if his team is to get past the Boston Celtics and reach the NBA Finals for the second time in his tenure with the team.
NEXT: Fans React To Jimmy Butler Game 2 Update
