Jimmy Butler missed an open look late in the 4th quarter for which he received heavy criticism as a lot of time was left on the clock.
The Boston Celtics won the Eastern Conference Championship after they defeated the Miami Heat in game 7 of their ongoing series by a score of 100-96. This was a highly competitive game, but the Celtics edged it out in front of Miami’s supporters.
Jimmy Butler had an opportunity to level up the score or go ahead but he missed an open look in a 3-point shot. There was still a lot of time left on the clock, which is why Jimmy received criticism over his shot collection. This was a costly miss as their season ended.
Talking about that miss, Jimmy said, “My thought process was go for the win, which I did. Missed the shot, but I’m taking that shot. My teammates like the shot that I took, so I’m living with it.”
Jimmy’s coach Erik Spoelstra had no regrets over the shot that Jimmy took. Spoelstra said, “I love that about Jimmy. … That was the right look.” Jimmy certainly earned the right to take that shot. Even though he missed it, he was the sole reason why Miami was there in the first place.
Jaylen Brown also talked about Jimmy’s shot and said, “When he shot that I was like ‘Man, what the hell.’ But he missed, we got the rebound, and we move on.” If that shot would have went in, Jimmy would have been a hero like Steph Curry has always been throughout his career. Nevertheless, Miami moves on, and they’ll look to come back stronger next season.
Many people believed that Jimmy deserved to take that shot and it was the right play. Miami’s players were tired, and if Jimmy had tied it up then they would have to defend the Celtics. The Celtics would have scored to take the lead again, and that would have made Miami’s job tougher.
As stated above Jimmy would have been a hero if the ball went in. It didn’t, and as a result, people took a dig at his decision-making. He had a historic playoff run, and he’ll be back again here next season, hopefully with more reinforcements.
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