When it looked like the Heat were about to pull off a memorable comeback, the Celtics won the series in Miami to set up a meeting against Stephen Curry and the Warriors in the NBA Finals.
It was certainly a great campaign by Erik Spoelstra‘s team, as it managed to finish first in the East and made the Conference Finals even in an injury-marred year. However, some players were blamed for the elimination – but not Jimmy Butler.
When the Celtics took a 3-2 lead, Butler turned up his game and made a massive effort to keep his team alive. Even so, he was very self-critical and took a lot of responsibility for the Heat’s elimination.
Jimmy Butler is hard on himself for the Heat’s elimination at the hands of Celtics
“In my book, I just think I can’t have bad games. I played like trash in a couple,” Butler said, in reference to Game 4 and 5. “That was the series. I didn’t do my job. Stats don’t mean anything, as I say over and over again. The Boston Celtics did what they came out here to do in this series. I learned that I have to be better, and I will be better.”
That is not what most of the NBA world thinks right now. Butler practically didn’t rest at the end of the series, putting the team on his back and playing all 48 minutes in Game 7. But his comments reflect his competitive nature, which is why we can only expect him to come back stronger next season.
