The Philadelphia 76ers had no answers for Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler, who formerly played for the 76ers, on Monday night.
He made his presence felt on both ends of the floor in a game the Heat won by a final score of 106-89 to improve to 6-7 on the campaign. Butler totaled 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and a steal on terrific shooting efficiency as well. He shot 8-of-12 on the evening.
Conversely, 76ers star Joel Embiid has yet to shake the rust off his game since he made his season debut against the New York Knicks on Nov. 12. Against Butler and company, he scored a season-low 11 points to go along with eight rebounds and a blocked shot.
Not long after the Heat handed the 76ers their 11th loss of the season already, Embiid said that his former teammate Butler is likely the best player in the NBA at the moment.
I talked to Joel Embiid about Jimmy Butler tonight:
“One of the best players in the league. Probably top five. Probably the best actually.” pic.twitter.com/zxYFKh45kJ
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) November 19, 2024
In Embiid’s defense, Butler has been as good a playoff performer as arguably any player in the NBA since the start of the decade. Across 64 total playoff games in a Heat uniform, Butler has averaged 24.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Furthermore, with Butler as the straw that stirs the drink on the offensive side of the ball for the Heat, Miami has reached three Eastern Conference Finals and a pair of NBA Finals.
But it’s of note that Butler, his scoring explosion against the 76ers notwithstanding, isn’t putting the ball through the net at a very frequent rate so far in his sixth season with the Heat, at least by his standards. The 35-year-old is averaging 17.7 points per game (his lowest scoring average with Miami by a wide margin) and has been woefully inefficient from 3-point range, as he’s shooting 21.4 percent from deep.
Butler will attempt to parlay his 30-point performance against the 76ers into Miami’s next game on its regular-season schedule, which will come against the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 24. The Mavericks are the defending Western Conference champions but own just a .500 record on the season at 7-7.
