Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
There are stars, and then there are alphas.
And on the night he led the Miami Heat to a 2-0 series lead over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, Jimmy Butler was an alpha. Especially when he paired up with Grant Williams.
Williams, who was the DNP coach’s decision in Game 1, played significant minutes in Game 2, especially down low because his job was to try and guard Butler.
It didn’t end up working in his favor.
Butler and Williams got into a little trash talking match with less than seven minutes left and the Celtics were up nine. From there, Butler and Miami went on a 22-9 run and stole another game on the road.
The Heat superstar made sure to let the people of Boston know that Williams is not the solution to their problems.
“No,” Butler replied when he was asked if Williams was the answer to the Celtics’ defensive woes.
Bleacher Report @Bleacher Report
“There’s no way they thought that was the answer!”
Jimmy was fired 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6v4o3b2w7y
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“So Jimmy, not Grant is the answer, right?”
Jimmy Butler: “No” pic.twitter.com/ LVkjnQ3jAe
Although it wasn’t his best shooting night in the playoffs, Butler still finished with a team-high 27 points, including several clutch buckets against Williams down the stretch, to go along with eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.
Just filling out the stat sheet one more time.
He also made sure to point out that of everyone on the court, he’s probably not the person you want to trash talk. He improved on it throughout his career.
“It drives that will that I have to win more,” Butler said. “And it makes me smile. When people talk to me, I’m like ‘Ok, I know I’m a decent player if you want to talk to me out of everything you can talk to.’
“… I just don’t know if I’m the best player to talk to.”
Butler and the Heat will look to take a 3-0 lead in the series on Sunday in Miami. It will be interesting to see who Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla tries to stop Butler, as nothing has worked so far.
