Jimmy Butler's sensational postseason continued with another big night as the unfancied Miami Heat bullied the Boston Celtics in game one of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday.
Butler plundered a game-leading 35 points as the Heat grabbed hold of the game in the third quarter at TD Garden, outscoring the two-seed Celtics by 21 points in those 12 minutes, and they never let go to secure a 123-116 win on the road.
The 33-year-old has been in inspirational form throughout the playoffs, with the eight-seed Heat eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks along the way, with Butler's contributions all the more impressive with key players Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo out injured.
Throughout his career, Butler has always raised his game in the playoffs and this year has been no different, showing himself as an elite player and leader, and his post-game press conference in Boston on Wednesday night spoke volumes about the effect he has on his teammates.
“Damn right, I did," he replied when asked by a reporter if he believed the Heat could make a deep run in the playoffs. "Damn right, we did. And the best part about it is we still don't care what none of y’all think, honestly speaking. We don’t care if you pick us to win.
"We never have, we never will. We know the group of guys we have in this locker room. We know that coach Spo (Erik Spoelstra) puts so much confidence in every one of us, coach Pat (Riley, team president) as well.
"Our circle is small, but this circle's got so much love for one another. We pump constant confidence into everybody and we go out there and we hoop. We play basketball the right way, knowing that we've always got a chance."
The Heat and the Celtics face off in game two in Boston on Friday, with the home team in desperate need of a victory to avoid heading to Florida – where the Heat are unbeaten in the playoffs since losing to the Atlanta Hawks in the first play-in game – with a 2-0 deficit.
But that will be easier said than done against a fired-up Heat team full of belief that this could be their year, and that is showing on the stat sheet with Butler elevating his scoring average by almost 10 points from the regular season to 31.5.
His talismanic performances are rubbing off on the players around him, too, with valuable contributions coming from across the rotation with Bam Adebayo, Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry all stepping up to the challenge.
Yet the Celtics remain strong favourites with the bookmakers to take the series and reach the NBA finals, but that could quickly change if the Heat upset the home crowd in Boston again on Friday night.
