Jimmy Butler, a standout for the Miami Heat, is sitting out the opening two games of their playoff series against the Boston Celtics due to a medial collateral ligament sprain.
Following Wednesday's 111-101 Game 2 victory by Miami, Butler made Boston's misery even worse with a mocking Instagram post. Superimposed on his face was the Celtics standout Jaylen Brown's "Don't let us get one" statement from the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, which he shared alongside a graphic featuring his own face. In the end, Boston got the series to Game 7, but they couldn't seal the deal.
Am I feeling adorable? I may remove this later. Just so you know, I'm not going to delete anything," Butler captioned his post. At this URL: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6KtZGoOxl_
It is reasonable that Butler would be in a joyful mood. Coming into the first-round matchup as heavy favorites were the Celtics, who were the top overall seed in the 2024 NBA playoffs. Game 2 of the playoffs was won by Miami with a franchise record 23 3-pointers, after the first game saw 22 3-pointers allowed by Boston. As the action moves to South Beach, the series is currently tied at one game apiece.
With Butler out, the Heat were propelled by the scorching shooting of Caleb Martin (21 points, 5-6 3-pointers) and Tyler Herro (24 points, 6-11 3-pointers). On 9-of-13 shooting, Bam Adebayo added 21 points as well.
Even though Brown contributed 33 points for Boston, the rest of his team had a really rough game. The only other Celtic to reach double figures was Derrick White (13 points), joining Brown and Tatum (28 points each).
From Game 3 onwards, Butler will not be able to participate. The Celtics, meantime, will try to prevent the Heat from seizing control of the series by letting their play speak for itself.
The third game will take place at Kaseya Center on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET, and NBC Sports Boston's Mike Gorman and Brian Scalabrine will be calling the action. Join us for Celtics Postgame Live as we kick off the coverage at 5 p.m.