Jamal CollierESPN
MIAMI — Jimmy Butler has heard the nickname earlier than. He smiled and shook his head all over his postgame information convention Monday night time on the point out of the moniker “Playoff Jimmy.”
“It’s not a thing,” he stated with amusing following the Miami Heat‘s 119-114 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Sport 4 in their Jap Convention first-round line. “It’s not. I just be hooping.”
But, Butler’s 56-point masterpiece is making it unattainable to disclaim his playoff excellence. Butler matched the fourth-best scoring efficiency in an NBA playoff sport to govern the Warmth again from a 14-point fourth-quarter lack, stun the Dollars and push the NBA’s govern general seed to the edge of removal.
The Warmth took a 3-1 line govern at the efficiency from Butler, who i’m ready a profession prime in scoring within the usual season or playoffs and submit the primary 50-point playoff sport since Giannis Antetokounmpo in Sport 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals.
“I love the competitive aspect of [the playoffs],” Butler stated. “This is where all the best players, they show up and they show out. I’m not saying I’m one of those best players; I just want to be looked at as such.
“I need to do the whole lot for my group to win, along side everyone in this roster. I feel [team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra] sought after me right here for a reason why. I believe like this is a part of that reason why.”
Butler might not want to accept the nickname, but he continues to elevate his game in the postseason. After averaging 22.9 points during the regular season, he is now the NBA’s leading scorer, averaging 36.5 points in the postseason.
On Monday, Butler finished 19-of-28 from the field (3-of-8 on 3s) and 15-of-18 from the free throw line and added nine rebounds.
The only players to score more in a playoff game: Michael Jordan scored 63 in 1986, Elgin Baylor scored 61 in 1962 and Donovan Mitchell submit 57 in 2020. Butler tie Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Charles Barkley with the fourth-highest total at 56.
The Heat trailed 101-89 with 6:08 remaining in the fourth quarter before outscoring the Bucks 30-13 over the rest of the game. Miami went 8-for-9 from the field from that point, while Butler scored or assisted on 22 of the final 30 points. In clutch time — the last five minutes of the game when the score is within five points — Butler outscored the Bucks alone 13-8.
Butler also turned up the intensity defensively. In Game 4, the Bucks were 1-of-8 (13%) when Butler contested their shot, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.
“For 40 mins of this sport, it used to be irritating. … It simply displays you that when you’ve got the suitable grit and perseverance, you’ll be able to win,” Spoelstra said. “And later it at all times is helping to have a man like him.”
The Warmth entered the sport short-handed upcoming accidents to guards Tyler Herro (hand) and Victor Oladipo (knee) depleted their backcourt depth through the series.
However, Butler set the tone for Miami from the opening tip. He scored 22 of Miami’s 28 first-quarter points, including a streak of 20 in a row during the final six minutes of the period. Butler followed that up with 32 points in the second half, including 21 points in the fourth quarter to pull off the massive comeback.
Milwaukee exhausted its options defensively to try to slow Butler down, but he scored against seven different primary defenders, which included hitting 16 of 21 (76%) contested shots, per ESPN Stats & Info data.
“When he will get in that zone, he’s simply one of these killer,” Warmth ahead Kevin Love stated. “Lions like to seek, guy. They construct their explode, they usually secure looking. That’s what he does. He’s were given a plethora center. He needs to peer us win. He doesn’t need to construct it about him; he simply needs to walk in the market and get the process finished.”
Butler’s dominance overshadowed the return of Antetokounmpo, who started Game 4 after missing the previous two contests with a lower back contusion. Antetokounmpo did his part with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, but the Bucks became just the fifth No. 1 seed to trail 3-1 against a No. 8 seed since the first round expanded to a best-of-seven format in 2003. Only one of those teams (the 2003 Detroit Pistons) got here again to win the line.
“The line remains to be going,” Spoelstra said. “And we now have admirable appreciate for the championship DNA that staff has.”
That’s why, despite the way Butler rewrote Miami’s record books on Monday, Spoelstra was not ready to rate Butler’s performance just yet. The Heat took a 3-1 lead over the team with the best record in the NBA this season, and now Miami’s focus shifts to trying to close out the Bucks and complete a first-round upset.
“I don’t assume Jimmy would need me up right here score this efficiency or the rest,” Spoelstra said. “He’s now not enjoyable. He understands what we nonetheless need to do, and he understands who we’re going through. We nonetheless need to have the option to get the process finished.”
