If Jimmy Butler, the best player for the Miami Heat, were healthy, one of his buddies thinks Miami would defeat the Boston Celtics in five games during the opening round of the playoffs.
Following his right MCL injury sustained during Miami’s play-in tournament loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Butler is now not in the starting lineup.
After defeating the Chicago Bulls in the play-in, the Heat went on to secure the eighth seed in the East, which put them in a first-round matchup with Boston.
The Heat shocked everyone by winning Game 2 with a stunning comeback, tying the series at one game apiece, after the Celtics had won Game 1 in Boston in a dominant manner.
Caleb Martin (5-for-6 from three), Tyler Herro (6-for-11 from three), Nikola Jovic (3-for-4 from three), Haywood Highsmith (3-for-5 from three), and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (3-for-6 from three) led the Heat’s team’s shooting effort from beyond the arc, which was 23-for-43.
Miami advanced to the NBA Finals the previous season as the eighth-seeded team in the East and defeated the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games during the opening round.
Furthermore, Miami won the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics in seven games (after taking a 3-0 series lead).
Miami has advanced to the NBA Finals twice and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in three of the previous four seasons with Butler on the team.
Therefore, it is not shocking that Butler’s pal believes Miami will easily defeat Boston in the event that the Heat star is healthy.
For the time being, Miami will continue to rely on Herro, Bam Adebayo, and other players to fill in for Butler.
Following Wednesday night’s victory, Butler made fun of the Celtics on Instagram by posting a funny picture of himself with Jaylen Brown, a top player for the team, photo-shopped over.
With Butler out, Miami will find it difficult to duplicate its previous season’s success, but on Wednesday, it proved it could hang with one of the top teams in the NBA. The Celtics only dropped four games at home in the regular season, but Miami managed to steal one early in the postseason series.
Game 3 is set to begin at 6 p.m. EST on Saturday, April 27. The Heat will aim to continue making Butler proud.
