JIMMY BUTTLER MAKES HIS WARRIORS DEBUT WITH 25 PTS

STEPH CURRY AND JIMMY BUTTLER STUNNED AFTER LOOK AWAY 3 AND 24 POINTS IN 3RD QUARTER VS. BULLS

NBA PLAYOFFS: HOW BUTTLER’S HEAT BROKE CELTICS IN GAME 1

 

Ben Rohrbach

Senior NBA writer

Thu, May 18, 2023 at 11:00 AM GMT+3·8 min read

BOSTON — The scene in the Miami Heat locker room after Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals was no different than any other job site in the latest city the eighth seed unwound from an honest day's work. Music turned up, Harpoon IPAs all around and appreciation for the dude who carried the heaviest burden.

"We can beat anybody," several members of the Heat's basketball operations staff told Yahoo Sports prior to Wednesday's workmanlike 123-116 upset of the second-seeded Celtics. You expect to hear that from a team, especially one that eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but the matter-of-fact manner in which they tell you conveys a belief that funnels from the top through Jimmy Butler, whose 35 points, 7 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds marked another heroic effort.