Jimmy Butler put the Miami Heat on his back Monday night in leading them to a 115-104 success over the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series in Orlando.
Butler finished with a game-high 40 points, which is the most points he’s ever scored in a championship game in his NBA profession. He was a force down the stretch, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter versus a Bucks defense that had no answers for his ability to get huge buckets.
Butler, obviously, invested most of last season with the Philadelphia 76 ers before leaving in the offseason to sign up with the Heat in an indication and trade deal.
His former colleague, Sixers star Joel Embiid, was viewing Monday night’s game and sent this one-word tweet that had fans assuming he was discussing Butler and how things could have been different for Philly if he stayed:
IF…
— Joel “Do a 180” Embiid??? (@JoelEmbiid) September 1, 2020
Minutes later he sang the applauds of Butler:
Jimmy Butler #TooGood
— Joel “Do a 180” Embiid??? (@JoelEmbiid) September 1, 2020
Twitter had responses:
Jimmy Butler is a championship-caliber player.
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) September 1, 2020
Jimmy remained in Philly.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) September 1, 2020
” If butler remained”
— Marc (@mlorenzo_3) September 1, 2020
Jimmy Butler points tonight: 40
Al Horford points this postseason: 28— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) September 1, 2020
76 ers fans when they could’ve kept Jimmy Butler but are now committed to Tobias Harris and Al Horford for $289 million pic.twitter.com/5B3CzohXdU
— Abdul Memon (@abdulamemon) September 1, 2020
There are like 3-5 players alive who can be the engine of a high-level offense and function as a lockdown wing protector, yet everybody invested the last few years persuading themselves Jimmy Butler wouldn’t deserve his agreement
— Ricky O’Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) September 1, 2020
Jimmy Butler going to celebrate this win by strolling straight into the weight space to deadlift and chew thumbtacks till Video game 2.
— Jimmy Wobbler (@WorldWideWob) September 1, 2020