Jimmy Butler Has CRIMINAL TENDENCIES...

Follow Jimmy Butler here, as he sniffs out the Celtics play, and sneaks in step by step closer to Williams and as soon as the pass is thrown, he jumps on it and gets a steal opening up the fast break and the dunk. Watch this close up, this is the look of a smooth criminal.
Jimmy had 4 steals and 3 blocks in addition to his 41 points on 63%. An astonishing performance leading the Heat offensively, but more impressive for me with his lock down defense as well, in what may have been the best quarter of defense this season.
So let’s go deeper and break it down. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
In transition Williams sets a high screen for Pritchard who now should have an advantage on the perimeter against Deadmon. But the Heat’s big man is moving great so he forces the pass.
Brown penetrates but as we stop it right here check out the 3 Miami defenders all over him, so now he has to pass out of it. Oladipo is already expecting that and he is able to make the proper rotation and another pass, and another back to Pritchard who penetrates and as we stop it right here you see that this is the same situation from 10 seconds ago with Oladipo helping down low but ready to rotate back in the corner, and that’s exactly what happens as this phenomenal defensive sequence is crowned with a block by Victor, and this suffocating defense was the story of game 1.
Here’s a similar situation but with Tatum as the ball handler. Obviously much more dangerous guy, so on the pick, immediately we see Tucker doing a great job of staying on his hip and fighting over the screen, Deadmon is in front but at the same time watching for the roll, and Jimmy is the third guy to form this wall, and of course Tatum gets rid of it.
So as Brown attacks now, notice how Herro flashes from the corner which a lot of coaches don’t like to help off of the corner and leave that 3 open but Spoelstra always uses that in his defense.
Plus Herro is quick to get back.
So as we move on, Jaylen side steps around Butler but now Deadmon is in front with Vincent rotating down low.
Jaylen could maybe try to lob it over, but this all happens in the blink of an eye so he sees Nesmith on the wing, but by the time he gets it, and goes up for a shot Gabe is already there closing out and contesting it.
Another amazing defensive sequence that ends with a bad miss.
And right here notice how Jimmy Butler just glances back to confirm that there’s a screen coming so he prepares for it and steps closer to Brown which allows him to completely avoid Theis who admittedly did not set the greatest screen of all time.
So he’s in line with Jaylen and as we freeze it, you see that help from the corner once again from Tucker, and Struss comes over from the other corner trusting that Vincent is able to split the difference and guard for a potential pass to both of these guys here. Which he does as you can see.
So Brown gets it to Tatum, but Butler is active and rotates, jumping high for the contest and getting a spectacular block on Tatum, as the crowd goes crazy and both him and P.J. get fired up.
And for a good reason, check it out once again from this angle. Amazing.
Speaking of Butler, as I mentioned in the intro he was the catalyst for the Heat primarily with his defense, since they did trail by 8 at the half.
But what followed was an avalanche forcing a ton of live turnovers, leading to fast break points, as they started the third quarter on a 22-2 run.
With that defense and Butler’s aggressiveness on offense, It went from -8 to +12 in the blink of an eye.
And as Jimmy said it himself, most of those 41 points came through his hard nosed attitude and the constant attack, going at the Celtics as you can see right here barrelling through Robert Williams and blowing him away for this finish.
JIMMY BUTLER INTERVIEW ZA GURANJE
And not only that but check out some of these unbelievably tough shots that he was able to hit, to kind of prove me wrong on my Exposed video from a few weeks ago.
And while I had to make that since the percentages were so low throughout the season, I also have to give a special shoutout to him for stepping up not just in this game but throughout the playoffs.
Butler went from 21.4 points on 48.0% from the field and a horrific 23.3% from downtown during the season, to 29.8 points on 53.5% from the field and a respectable 34.8% from three.
That’s what you call stepping up when it matters the most.
However I’d just like to point out a small thing, just the slightest little detail.
If you look at his mid range shots, he’s still at around 37% which is underwhelming to say the least for a guy that’s famous for his mid range shots, and known as one of the best in the league from that area of the court.
So while I do enjoy all the comments on that video saying that it doesn’t age well, if you really look closely, it ages like fine wine to me.