Jimmy Butler Was Created in a Lab To Get Playoff Buckets

There is something about the NBA Playoffs that make certain players shrink in big moments and turns other players into giants among men capable of physically and mentally willing themselves to greatness. Jimmy Butler falls in the latter.

JIMMY. BUTLER. 50 BALL. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/A2JSftABpe

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 25, 2023

Game 4’s are the most important games of any playoff series. It’s the difference between tying a series 2-2 before traveling to the next arena with optimism and going up 3-1 knowing you have a complete stranglehold over the series and you are in control of your own dynasty.

The Miami Heat needed this Game 4 at home. Especially with Giannis returning to the lineup. Jimmy Butler understood this. The Heat were down 87-98 with about 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter when Butler checked back into the game.

Jimmy Butler then singlehandedly outscored the Bucks 22-16 as the Heat went on to a 119-114 victory.

Here’s what Butler did to the Bucks on Monday night:

41 minutes
56 points
19-for-28 from the field
3-for-8 from 3
15-for-18 from the line
9 rebounds
2 assists
1 block
+4 (he was the only Heat starter with a positive plus/minus)

We often talk about players “putting the team on their back” but what Jimmy Butler did was the real genuine article. Butler scored 56 points. The rest of the Heat scored 63 combined.

A Heat team without Tyler Herro after suffering a broken hand earlier this series. A Heat team that relied on Bam Adebayo throughout the regular season only for Bam to disappear in the playoffs again and again. Max Strus gave them 0. Duncan Robinson was unplayable all year and he was out there for 30 minutes. Gabe Vincent committed 5 turnovers. Kyle Lowry was supposed to be the veteran point guard to steady the ship. He scored 6 points and stole the Heat’s money. Victor Oladipo is one twisted ankle away from being wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.

This win can wholly be attributed to Jimmy Buckets and not only his recognition of the magnitude of the moment but his willingness to live in that and thrive in it. Where many players melt in the flames of the crucible, Butler rises like a phoenix and devours his competition as if they are children in need of a disciplinary spanking.

This is the same Jimmy Butler the Chicago Bulls traded to Minnesota for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen because they wanted to get younger even though he was an All-Star who just dragged Dwyane Wade’s elderly ass to the playoffs and was the perfect player to build around.

This is the same Jimmy Butler the Minnesota Timberwolves traded to Philadelphia for Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second-round pick because Butler didn’t think Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins worked hard enough even though we all knew he was 1000% correct and he had just carried this team to their first playoff appearance in 13 years.

This is the same Jimmy Butler the Philadelphia 76ers let walk to Miami in free agency and elected to sign Al Horford instead because the team didn’t think Butler and Ben Simmons could co-exist even though the Sixers desperately needed a 4th quarter bucket-getter to get them over the hump in the playoffs and Ben Simmons is the polar opposite of that.

And on Monday night, he took on the no. 1 seed in the East and one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history and beat their asses.

It’s time to acknowledge Jimmy Butler as one of the greatest ever. How many players in this league can beat the Milwaukee Bucks 1-on-5 in a critical Game 4. We see more players disappear in the same situations. Shit, we saw his teammates melting before our eyes. Kyle Lowry committed two of the dumbest turnovers in the 4th quarter including a terrible pass that landed in the front row.

Meanwhile, Butler made every correct decision in that 4th quarter. We universally praise Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and even Luka Doncic for their ability to take over a game but Jimmy is constantly removed from these conversations when all he does is turn into Michael Jordan in the postseason.

Perhaps it’s because Jimmy is kind of a weirdo. His best friend is Mark Wahlberg. He removed the rearview windows from his car because he didn’t want to ‘look back’. The motherfucker glued fake dreads glued into his scalp in the offseason for no reason at all. It’s easier to think of Jimmy as a living meme than as a basketball assassin.

Or perhaps it’s because Butler kind of cruises through the regular season. The 33-year-old has logged a shit ton of minutes in his career leading to lingering lower body injuries that he has taught himself how to navigate through in order to be at his peak in April in May. With new rule changes requiring players to compete in 65 games to qualify for end-of-season awards, Butler’s legacy will continue to look strange on paper. He’ll be one of the only NBA greats to not really make that many All-NBA teams or win any big awards.

I reckon that’s what makes Playoff Jimmy so fascinating. The Miami Heat ranked 25th in offensive rating this season. They were 27th in 3-point shooting. They were dead fucking last in points scored. None of that mattered because Jimmy Butler decided they were going to win therefore they won.

The Miami Heat can beat the Bucks. Khris Middleton isn’t the same player he was pre-knee injury. Giannis is clearly still injured as he didn’t look anywhere near as aggressive and physical as he typically does.

JIMMY BUTLER ON GIANNIS 😱 pic.twitter.com/Gx5j1aIt11

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 24, 2023

This might be the year Jimmy Butler finally does it.

We saw what he’s capable of when the Heat battled the Lakers in the Bubble Finals. If he continues to play like he’s shooting in an empty gym then the Heat can actually win the chip this year. Let’s all try to push through the exhausting ‘Heat Culture©️” media narrative bullshit and focus on what we’re witnessing: one of the greatest playoff performers in the history of this game playing at his best ever and carrying a team of scrubs.

Miami Heat in 4.

Thanks for reading. Go ahead and sign up for the D, the daily Deadseriousness newsletter sent directly to your inbox every AM.