Looking at the games
Let’s take a look at last week’s performances that earned him league-wide recognition.
Tuesday against the defending champs and red hot Pascal Siakam, the Miami Heat defeated the Toronto Raptors 121-110.
I must give credit where credit is due. Miami’s Bam Adebayo held last season’s Most Improved Player to nine points under his season average of 24.6 points per game. Yes, he’s gotten better since last season, but if you’re going to tell me Jimmy Butler didn’t have anything to do with that, you’re dead wrong.
That night Butler went 4-11 during regulation for a grand total of 14 points. But, that’s not all. He also earned his first triple-double of the week by adding in 13 rebounds and 12 assists.
It’s not always about the points and Butler is aware of that, as he’s showed us in previous weeks. In what would’ve surely been a mark in the loss column for last season’s team, Jimmy stared the inevitable down and like Neo from The Matrix, simply said, “No.” And so it started.
After the jump ball, Jimmy Butler started his personal 8-0 run, leaving Toronto in the rearview mirror. To add insult to injury, Butler assisted on Kelly Olynyk’s 3-pointer that put the Heat up by 11 points with 29 seconds left to play.
He was responsible for 11 of the team’s 13 overtime points while playing a team-high 41 minutes. Game over.
An Honorable mention against the Celtics:
After defeating the defending champs to the north, the Heat found themselves in a bit of a dilemma. The dreaded scheduled loss.
Coming off an overtime win, having to travel from Toronto to Boston for game two of a back to back, and losing Sixth Man Of The Year candidate Goran Dragić, it was bound to happen. After starting off strong in the first quarter, the Miami Heat lost by 19 points and were put to bed in the second quarter.
We all know you don’t get player of the week nominations for losing (Devin Booker) or only playing two games in a week (James Harden), but Butler padded his case with an excellent line of 37 points (six made 3-pointers!), six boards, four assists, and two steals. When his team needed him most, Jimmy Butler showed up. That’s why they pay him the big bucks.