Defending Miami forward Jimmy Butler these playoffs has been an almost impossible task, just ask Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday.
Butler embarrassed the first seed in the East, Milwaukee by dropping crazy stat lines and their coach Mike Budenholder was ultimately fired for not making the correct adjustments against a white-hot Himmy.
Despite this, All-Defensive guard Holiday believes that it wouldn’t have mattered who was guarding Butler, he would have cooked regardless.
“A lot of plays Jimmy made, there was nothing that I could do,” Holiday said on Sideline Stroll with Ros. “There’s nothing that anybody could do. It didn’t matter if it was Brook [Lopez] on him, if it was LeBron James or Michael Jordan on him. It didn’t matter who was on him. Jimmy was playing at a different level.”
The wrath of Jimmy was in full force in the first round and the Bucks copped the brunt of it as he averaged 37.6 points on 59.7 percent shooting from the field and 44.4 percent from three, six rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals in five games.
Six-time All-Star Butler also went GOAT mode in Game 3 with a career-high 56-point haul in a comeback win.
He delivered a special message to Jrue in Game 5 which we’re sure still haunts him. Jimmy could be seen yelling at Holiday, “I own you.”
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Himmy’s 188 total points scored were the most by a player in a five-game series since Michael Jordan. When MJ had 215 in the 1990 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Wild.
Largely thanks to Butler’s efforts, the Heat also became only the sixth time ever in league history to knock off the first-seeded team as the eighth seed.
The last time that happened was in 2012 when Philly beat Chicago in six games.
Miami look to defy further odds as they push for a Finals berth against Boston.