Jimmy Butler returns to lead Miami Heat over league’s best in Boston

The Miami Heat were entering their Friday night contest in a pretty good spot. Though they would lose their last contest, a Wednesday matchup to the same Boston Celtics that they would be facing on Friday night, the way in which that defeat happened should have been encouraging.

Again, though a defeat, they were able to go back and forth with an offensively explosively Boston Celtics team all night long, only falling off or faltering late in the game. Besides, they would be able to get that much done without their best player in tow for them, Jimmy Butler.

That’s a key to remember when looking at the contrast between Wednesday and Friday though. Because coming in “thirsty” for victory, would be Jimmy Butler making his return to the Miami Heat lineup.

The game was a back-and-forth affair for much of it, with the Heat getting out to good leads and then allowing the Celtics to do the same thing. In their traditionally poor period, the third quarter, the Miami Heat would actually allow the Celtics to go up by as many as 12 points.

The Miami Heat got a huge victory Friday night in Boston. Beating the league-best Celtics in their place, it’s the kind of win that can propel them greatly.

Then, Kyle Lowry would nail the technical free throw and huge three-pointer that would propel the Heat on their game-winning run back to the lead. However, it isn’t that simple.

After a series of huge Jimmy Butler plays late in the game, he would run around the baseline to hit a huge two-pointer over Al Horford to give the Heat a three-point lead with just five seconds remaining. And then—this happened, of course.

It would be to no avail though, as the Miami Heat would eventually be able to close the door on the best team in the league to walk away with a, 120-116, victory. They would hold the second leading scorer in the league, Jayson Tatum at 31.6 points per game, to just 14 points on the night on just 5-18 shooting from the field and 0-7 from three.

Basically, with Jimmy Butler back in the lineup, there is just a calm, a cool, and a collective poise with which the rest of his team plays. And on Friday, it was all on full display.

This is the Miami Heat at their best.