It’s that time of year when the Miami Heat and superstar Jimmy Butler come to life, the NBA playoffs.
Last season, the Heat reached the NBA Finals after battling out of the Play-In tournaments as the East’s No. 8 seed. However, their historic trip was cut short by Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in a gentleman’s sweep. SLAM 249 featured Butler, where he sent a warning to the rest of the playoff teams.
“This is the time where people really need to think about taking on the Miami Heat and myself. I know what I’m capable of, I know what my team is capable of,” Butler said. And no one wants to see us in a 7-game series, anyway; we know that.”
Butler finished the regular season averaging 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and five assists on 49.9 percent shooting and 41.4 percent from three-point range (a career high). It wasn’t his best individual year, but “Playoff Jimmy” is the Heat’s true hero. He averaged 26.9 points and 6.5 rebounds on 46.8 percent shooting this past playoffs.
Not only did Butler send a message to the rest of the league, but he is also excited about the challenge of playing against the Philadelphia 76ers on the road in the Play-In.
“That’s a question I don’t have an answer to. I wish we played better at home. I don’t know. Every time we go on the road, our backs are a little bit against the wall,” he said. Butler said. “I guess we get out of our comfort zone, and then we really start to shake things up, so I’m pretty happy we’re on the road.”
Anthony Pasciolla is a contributing writer to Inside The Heat. He can be contacted at [email protected] or followed on Instagram @anthony.pasciolla