Jimmy Butler Mocks Haters As Heat Eye Championship
A confident Jimmy Butler took aim at all the naysayers on Wednesday night following the Miami Heat’s 116-114 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I’ve said it time and time again, we truly do not care what other people say.” Butler said.
“We stay focused on what we can, control what we can – we’re not looking at it like we’re up 2-0.”
Miami started the game off hot and largely maintained control throughout most of it. A series of bad decisions and worse calls tightened the score up at the end, but ultimately the Heat prevailed.
Butler scored 13 points on three of eight shooting for the night, and went seven of eight from the free throw line. One of those seven makes from the charity stripe came with no time left in the fourth quarter, ultimately sealing the game for his squad.
NBA ratings noticeably declined after last week’s stoppage. https://t.co/DzvGJoEOjh
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 2, 2020
It was a quieter effort than the 40-point blitz Butler provided in Game 1, but the increased attention on him freed up his teammates to do damage.
“We have a team full of guys who aren’t afraid to take and make shots,” he said after the game.
“I don’t need to be a 40-point per night scorer. That’s not my role here.”
Goran Dragic scored 23 points, Tyler Herro chipped in 17 off the bench, Jae Crowder had 16 and Bam Adebayo added 15.
Duncan Robinson scored 13 points and Kelly Olynyk ended up with 11 of his own.
All in all, it was an impressive and balanced effort by a Heat team that is now 6-0 in the postseason.
The Bucks have their work cut out for them. Can they come back from being down 0-2? Sure, the talent is there. Will they? That is a much tougher question to answer.
At the moment Miami looks like a legit championship contender capable of competing with anyone in the league. If this team gets past Milwaukee and continues to make it look this easy, the rest of the league better watch out.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
