Jimmy Butler confident in Heat’s playoff chances and ability to attract stars to Miami
Jimmy Butler is preparing for his eighth trip to the NBA playoffs. But it’s his first with the Miami Heat, and he’s ready.
Butler and the Heat open the postseason with a first-round best-of-7 series against the Indiana Pacers that begins with Game 1 on Tuesday at 4 p.m. It marks the fifth time the Heat and Pacers have matched up in the postseason (2004, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020), with Miami eliminating Indiana in three of their previous four playoff meetings.
Those playoff matchups have included some memorable moments like Lance Stephenson blowing in the ear of LeBron James and Udonis Haslem’s hard foul on Tyler Hansbrough during the Heat’s Big 3 era.
“I guess there’s some history between Miami and the Pacers,” Butler said during an interview aired Friday on ESPN’s “The Jump.” “You inherit that the second that you put on a Miami jersey or a Pacers jersey for that matter. But we embrace it. We love it. We don’t run from it. So I think it’s going to be very, very interesting.”
Butler was among the regulars who was held out of Friday’s game against the Pacers to close the teams’ seeding schedule, with the Miami-Indiana first-round playoff matchup already set and no real home-court advantage at Disney.
What does Butler expect from the upcoming series between the Heat and Pacers?
“For the Heat to win. I do expect that,” Butler said during the ESPN interview. “I think everybody on our roster and our organization and all our coaches, all of our fans think that the Miami Heat is going to get that one.”
What does Butler expect from the Heat during its playoff run?
“We can win this,” he said.
When ESPN’s Rachel Nichols pointed out the Heat is not one of the title favorites, Butler responded: “I don’t care. I don’t care. I don’t care. I’m speaking for myself, I don’t give a damn what anybody says. I think I can speak for my teammates when I say they don’t give a damn either.”
One of the big story lines surrounding the Heat-Pacers playoff series is the Butler vs. Warren matchup that grew contentious and ended with Warren’s ejection when the two teams met in January. Butler and Warren were involved in several confrontations that included a middle finger from Warren directed at Butler and then Butler blowing a kiss goodbye as Warren walked off the floor following his ejection.
“A high level of competition,” Butler said of what he expects from his playoff matchup against Warren. “I’ll keep it at that for now and keep it at basketball. I know that I have a job to do just like he has a job to do. But I know that the group of guys that we have, we’re going to make sure that our job gets done.”
As for Wednesday’s incident with Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star guard Chris Paul, Butler said: “I just don’t like you picking on my young fellas like that. I feel like you didn’t have to do that. That was like an eye for an eye.”
Heat forward Duncan Robinson and Paul exchanged words during a stoppage in play Wednesday, with Paul then stealing the ball and throwing it off Robinson’s back to force the Heat turnover on the ensuing possession. Butler defended his teammate, responding by sticking his shoulder into Paul’s chest on a drive to the basket that was called an offensive foul on Miami’s next possession.
Did Butler connect with Paul after the game to discuss the series of plays? No.
“I don’t care. I don’t need friends here in the bubble,” Butler said. “I barely leave my room. I’m in my room minding my business. I’m not going to see nobody.”
Butler, who missed four of the eight seeding games because of a sore right foot, averaged 16 points on 47.2 percent shooting, 6.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.8 steals in the four seeding games he did play in.
With the regular season coming to an end Friday, the 30-year-old Butler averaged team-highs in points (19.9), assists (6) and steals (1.8) in his first season with the Heat after forcing a sign-and-trade to Miami as a free agent last summer. He finished with the second-best plus/minus on the roster at plus-257 behind only Robinson.
For now, Butler and the Heat have a playoff run to worry about. But Butler is also confident there will be stars joining him in Miami down the road.
“I think it’ll happen. Only time will tell,” Butler said at the end of his ESPN interview. “I’m telling you, the organization is really good at getting what they want to win a championship. It’s gonna happen. We have all the key pieces. We have shooters. We got the youth. We got the vets. And I think, a little Miami sunshine never hurt anybody.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
