The Jimmy Butler Experience is truly something else. That said, Game 1 was just another day for him. Winning on Wednesday is what Butler does — defy the odds.
The Heat were nearly double-digit underdogs going into Game 1. Didn’t matter. A whopping 39 points on 12-for-25 shooting, seven assists, five rebounds and a ridiculous six steals were just what Miami needed to win 123-116. (By the way, the ankle Butler injured against the Knicks doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore.)
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Let’s start with those steals. Butler targeted Jaylen Brown on the defensive end in the fourth quarter. Brown still scored six points and got some quality looks, but two of his six turnovers came in that quarter. Half of Butler’s steals came in the fourth. Six Miami points came directly off turnovers in the fourth — take those away and the ending of this game probably looks a lot different.
The Celtics need to be aware of that Miami tactic. Whether Brown needs to adjust or the Celtics need to run screens to get him away from Butler, or both, Miami’s star is clearly still a problem for Brown on that end.
On the other end, Butler played the game the way he wanted to. Pick his opposition apart with quality mid-range looks — especially along the baseline — and draw fouls when in a crowd (9-for-10 from the free-throw line). The fouls are going to happen when he gets into the paint, which is where all but one of the fouls he drew occurred. Keeping him out of there is going to be a challenge. But, taking away that baseline shot would be helpful. He scored 10 of his 39 from there, and he went 5-for-6 on those attempts.
Now, Butler did go 2-for-4 from deep, but that’s not going to happen every night. He’s improved from deep this year, and he’ll obviously take that shot if the Celtics are going to give it to him. But he’s not the Miami three-point shooter the Celtics need to worry about. (The four Heat players who each logged 15 points are the larger problem in that regard.) That’s the area the Celtics can afford to test the water more, especially because of the manner in which it can impact his playmaking.
When Butler is rolling, he’s dribbling all through the defense before he either pulls up, hunts for a foul or dishes to someone along the perimeter. Taking that away from him can impact the flow of Miami’s offense, forcing Bam Adebayo, Gabe Vincent or Kyle Lowry to direct traffic. As much as each of those three scored 15-plus points in Game 1, they can’t break down a defense like Butler can — certainly not as consistently as he does.
Tinkering in one of these areas could make all the difference for the C’s in Game 2. Regardless of where they put their focus when it comes to Butler ahead of Friday’s game, what he did in Game 1 can’t happen again.
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