The Miami Heat magical postseason run came to an end on Monday night following their 94-89 loss in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets. They were able to bounce back and make it to the Finals after losing their first game of the play-in tournament. Despite the disappointing end, the Heat still made history by being the first team to make the NBA Finals in the short history of the play-in format. They achieved this goal because of the stellar play of Jimmy Butler, who also is known as “Playoff Jimmy.”
Butler had one of the best postseason performances in the first round but his play dwindled little by little as they advanced through each round. Heat fans may attribute it to an ankle injury he suffered in the second round of the playoffs against the Knicks, but social media is not buying that excuse. Now the artist formerly known as “Himmy” has turned back to Jimmy, and social media is blaming him for the Heat falling short yet again in the Finals.
A Playoff Run To Remember
Butler averaged 37.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 59.7 percent from the field against the Bucks. They were able to put them away in five games, with Butler’s lowest points scored in the series being 25. His 56 points scored in Game 4 of the series was the fourth-most points scored ever in a playoff game. It helped earned him the name “Himmy” on social media.
His first round performance even drew comparisons to Michael Jordan.
Butler even was feeling himself so much during this playoff run that he trademarked “Himmy Buckets” heading into the NBA Finals. Things quickly backfired on him after his poor Finals performance.
Injured or Choked?
Butler fell back to earth in the second round against the Knicks. He averaged 24.6 points per game and shot only 43.2 percent from the field. The numbers were far off from his first-round series and foreshadowed his performance in the conference finals against the Celtics.
He still averaged 24.7 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game, and 6.1 assists per game in the conference finals. The Heat won a Game 1 in Boston after many doubted them when the Celtics climbed back in the series from a 3-0 deficit. Butler scored 28 points in the closeout game and won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award.
Things fell completely apart in the NBA Finals. Butler averaged 21.6 points, 6.4 assists, and 4.6 rebounds, which were all playoff lows in his postseason run. Many believe he just choked, but some people on social media pointed out that he was never the same after he rolled his ankle on a collision with Josh Hart against the Knicks.
Butler missed one game and said that it was not an excuse after the Game 5 loss to the Nuggets in the Finals. He turned the ball over with the Heat down 90-89 and less than 30 seconds left in the game.
“Jimmy you are not Himmy unfortunately,” wrote @yvngxafricano on Twitter.
Many others also echoed those words with similar tweets that read, “Jimmy is not Himmy.”
Despite the ugly ending for Butler and the Heat, many believed that they could add another big piece and be right back in the finals. Damian Lillard name was thrown out a lot by Heat fans to go alongside Butler and Bam Adebayo. Heat president Pat Riley is one of the best in the game at quickly rebuilding a contender and will be sure to add another piece. The team also will get back a healthy Tyler Herro, who broke his hand in the first round. Victor Oladipo, who tore the patellar tendon in his left knee in the first round, also likely will be back after surgery and exercising his player option for next season.
