"I'm not going to run away from it" - Grant Williams on his altercation with Jimmy Butler

Grant Williams made the wrong move of talking trash and poking Jimmy Butler in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Butler responded by putting the Miami Heat on his shoulders once again and earn the hard-fought 111-105 win to take a 2-0 series lead.

In an interview after the game, Williams reacted to his altercation with Butler. The 24-year-old forward has no regrets in "poking the bear" on Friday night. He also told reporters that the Celtics will be ready for Game 3.

​

​

"I'm a competitor, I'm gonna battle," Williams said. "He got the best of me tonight. And at the end of the day, it's out of respect because I'm not gonna run away from it. My mom always taught me, and my dad as well, you get your ass kicked, you don't come back home until you come battle again. And you either come back before you die, or you go back and you go get a win."

Grant Williams did not play in Game 1, but came up huge for the Boston Celtics in Game 2. However, Williams was unable to defend Jimmy Butler, who targeted him late in the fourth quarter as the Miami Heat were making their comeback. Butler had 27 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.

Williams finished with nine points, two rebounds and two assists, while Jayson Tatum had 34 points, 13 reboudns and eight assists. Despite his amazing stat line, Tatum had another cold fourth quarter, remaining field goal-less in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals.

Tatum also had another costly turnover with around a minute left in the game. The Celtics were up by nine points with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Heat just fought back to snatch the win away.

---

Jimmy Butler reacts to Grant Williams' trash talk

Jimmy Butler and Grant Williams

Reporters asked Jimmy Butler after the game if Grant Williams had an effect on him following their altercation in the fourth quarter. Butler admitted that it helped him focus on the task as he led the Miami Heat to the comeback win.

​

"He hit a big shot, started talking to me," Butler said. "I like that, I'm all for that. It makes me key in a lot more and it pushes that will that I have to win a lot more and it makes me smile. It does. When people talk to me, I'm like, OK, I know I'm a decent player if you want to talk to me out of everybody that you can talk to.

"But I don't know, it's just competition. I do respect him though. He's a big part of what they try to do. He switches, he can shoot the ball. I just don't know if I'm the best person to talk to."

​