Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat are currently playing their best basketball of the 2022-23 season, and they seem as confident as ever.
Butler recently spoke about his team’s upcoming Eastern Conference Finals series against the Boston Celtics. To the surprise of no one, the six-time All-Star likes his team’s chances.
Guys are playing some incredible basketball. I like our
chances, as does everyone in this organization." He also says how good Celtics are, noting "if there's
ever a need for perfect basketball, even though it's not really a thing, we better get as close to it as we can."— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) May 16, 2023
In the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, the Heat beat the No. 1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in five games. In the second round, Miami then beat the New York Knicks in six hard-fought contests.
It will now look to beat the odds once again and upset a higher seeded team in the Celtics, who are the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed.
Boston is coming off series victories against the Atlanta Hawks, who beat the Heat in the play-in tournament, and Philadelphia 76ers. In the Eastern Conference semifinals against the 76ers, the Celtics were down 3-2 but came back to win Games 6 and 7 to advance.
During the 2023 postseason, Butler has been on an incredible tear. In 10 playoff games this year, the five-time All-NBA selection is recording 31.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game on 52.7 percent shooting from the field and 36.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
He’s had some truly magnificent performances throughout the playoffs, including a 56-point outing in Game 4 against the Bucks at home. The NBA world was unable to contain itself while watching Butler in that contest.
Butler suffered an ankle injury in the second round against the Knicks that forced him to miss one game, but he hasn’t let that fully stop him. Against the Knicks, the 33-year-old recorded 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
It will be interesting to see what types of numbers he’s able to put up against the Celtics. While Butler is confident in his team’s chances, some across the league don’t think the Heat have much of a chance to advance.
However, the Heat were mostly viewed as underdogs in the series against the Bucks and Knicks, so the feeling isn’t new for the team.
Game 1 of the Heat-Celtics series is set to tip off on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. EST.
