The Eastern Conference finals will get underway on Tuesday night with the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics finally going head to head in Game 1.
Ahead of Game 1, an anonymous scout spoke with Josh Robbins of The Athletic about the matchup between these two teams and their star players, Jayson Tatum and Jimmy Butler. The scout believes Tatum has the edge over the veteran.
“Tatum is the best player of the group,” wrote Robbins. “Who’s going to stop him? Jimmy Butler to a point. But Tatum’s the same size, and he’s quicker and he’s on a roll.”
It didn’t take long for Tatum to make a name for himself and become the undisputed leader of the Celtics. For the first time in his career, he made the All-Star team this season, averaging a career-high 23.4 points per game for Boston.
As for Butler, the veteran journeyman came into this season after bouncing around the league the past few years. He’s playing for his fourth NBA team and made the bold move to leave a potentially promising situation with the Philadelphia 76ers last summer.
The gamble turned out to be the right move for Butler. The Heat exceeded expectations since the arrival of Butler and are only four wins away from returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since the 2013-14 NBA season.
Butler and Tatum have different styles of leading their teams. The 31-year-old is as vocal as they come while Tatum serves a quiet lead-by-example approach. Either way, these two stars are in the same position ahead of Game 1, with their teams having a shot at winning an NBA title.
