Jimmy Butler Had All The Right Moves In Game 2
Miami Heat forward had a pair of conversations before he stepped on the court for Game 2 against the Atlanta Hawks at FTX Arena.
It led to Butler scoring 45 points and putting the Heat ahead 2-0 in the best-of-7 series.
“Last night I had a conversation with [P.J. Tucker] and he was telling me to go out there and score and make sure that we win. Coach [Chris] Quinn did the same thing when I was up there getting shots in our practice gym. I went out and did just that.”
The series now shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 and Game 4. Here's what others players had to say about Butler's performance.
Heat guard Kyle Lowry: “He won the game for us tonight. It’s a team game, but his effort on both ends was spectacular. 45 points in a playoff game and a Game 2 that we felt was must-win for us. It’s bigtime basketball from a bigtime basketball player, one of the best two-way players in the game.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: “Where do I start. That’s just elite, two-way basketball that he exhibited tonight. He was doing it on both ends. He had his one-through-five, where he was guarding everybody on the floor at some point like Bam always does. Then he was just terrific offensively. I thought he was really assertive. He was making quick decisions and we really needed that in the second half. They were giving us everything that we thought they would give us in this game. We felt like this would be a true Game 1. He was just really assertive. Everybody will talk about the threes, but he just has a knack for making whatever play is needed for your team at whatever moment. Settling us at key moments was just really key offensively.”
Heat guard Gabe Vincent: “He’s finally shooting. Jimmy’s a great offensive player as well as a great defensive player. We’ve seen that time and time again. Now that he’s shooting that three ball more confidently, he’s making them and it just takes his offensive game to another level.
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