Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler Has Been A Top 2 Player In 2022 NBA Playoffs

The Miami Heat have the chance to end their series in a Game 6 matchup on Thursday night in Philadelphia. Coming off three games where he absolutely dominated the floor, with his scoring in losses for Games 3 and 4, Jimmy Butler would play a more well-rounded game in the fifth contest of the series.

That has been Jimmy Butler for the entirety of the NBA Postseason this year though, rampaging through defenses, as he carries his team on his back on a lot of occasions. In the process, Jimmy Butler has certainly elevated himself into elite NBA company.

And by “elite”—that does mean the most elite of the elite.

How elite has he been though? Well, if you want to be completely honest, he’s been a top-three player throughout these NBA Playoffs, top two if you are being completely honest.

There is only one player that you could honestly place above Jimmy Butler and that would be Giannis Antetokounmpo. But let’s talk about it.

Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler Has Been A Top 2 Player In 2022 NBA Playoffs

The first thing you look at is the numbers.

When it comes to scoring in the NBA Playoffs, Jimmy ranks number four at 28.3 points per game across nine games so far. That puts him behind the Greek Freak, Nikola Jokic, and Luka Doncic.

You immediately cancel out Jokic, as he isn’t in the playoffs anymore after being eliminated in five games. To be fair, after Jimmy, you have Ja Morant, Brandon Ingram, Jayson Tatum, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and then Donovan Mitchell.

You also would take all of the rest of the first-round elimination guys out like BI, KD, and Donovan Mitchell. Though the others left are still below Jimmy in scoring, you then go to the other stuff.

Jimmy also ranks top 15 in rebounds and while Ja Morant ranks 13th, the next guy left from the trio that remained but also fell right behind him in scoring comes all the way down at 45 in rebounding, Jayson Tatum.

Even if you look at assists, Jimmy is a top-20 performer.

While the raw numbers are one thing, telling you that Jimmy is more productively well-rounded than almost anybody else in the playoffs, it also speaks to the consistency of it all. Jimmy has put up huge numbers and/or made all of the biggest plays for his team on any given night so far throughout their run.

Some guys may have gone bigger scoring-wise and though Jimmy hasn’t been a slouch there, scoring 45 in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Hawks and scoring 33 or more points in almost half of their games, few have been as consistently top-end type productive as Jimmy Butler.

The fact that he’s scored that many in nearly half of his playoff games played this year screams exactly that fact! But wait—there’s more.

Miami Heat: There Is Only One Dude Who’s Been Better Than Jimmy Butler

Outside of just your three basic counting numbers though for basketball, those being points, rebounds, and assists, Jimmy also leads the playoffs in another number that highlights the last and final separating factor between him and just one other guy. Jimmy also leads the playoffs in steals at 2.2 per game.

Jimmy has, still, and will always get it done on the defensive side of the ball too! That’s most of the closing argument.

That’s where the “top 3” argument ends. Yes, Luka Doncic has been great, but he doesn’t play the defensive side of the ball anywhere near as magnificently as Jimmy Butler does and if that isn’t enough for you, Jimmy has been more efficient than Luka on offense while producing at a very close level.

Of the three top guys by most people’s accounts, one would imagine, in Luka, Jimmy Butler, and Antetokounmpo, Jimbo leads them all in field goal percentage at 53.8 percent. Doncic is shooting 46.6 percent from the field, while Giannis is shooting 50.7 percent.

So, with that all in mind, the overall production that the numbers reflect, the consistency to which they are putting up those numbers, and the totality of the impact on both sides of their team’s game—there has been only one dude in these NBA Playoffs that can rightfully and righteously, for that matter, be chosen ahead of Jimmy Butler.

That dude plays in Milwaukee. And to be fair, with all they’ve endured in these playoffs and the vitriol built between his team and these Miami Heat, if it comes down to that dude’s team and Jimmy’s team, Jimmy and his crew should stand a very good chance to prevail there too.