Is Jimmy Butler playing against the Celtics? Latest injury update on Heat's star ahead of matchup (24th May 2023)
Jimmy Butler has been having an incredible playoff run and has matched up against the Bucks, Knicks and now the Boston Celtics. He is averaging 29.9 points (50.5% shooting, including 34.8% from 3-point range), 6.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists in this year's postseason.
In Game 5 against the Celtics at TD Garden, Jimmy Butler is available to play in the matchup. He is averaging 26.8 ppg (45.2% shooting, including 30.0% from 3-point range), 7.5 rpg and 6.0 apg.
Butler and the Heat came up short in closing out the series in Game 4, despite going for 29 points on 9-of-21 shooting. The Heat struggled in getting quality minutes from the rest of the team as Bam Adebayo, Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry were held in check.
Miami was in a rough shooting night for much of the game as they only shot 43.6%, including 25.0% from 3-point range. They also committed 15 sloppy turnovers, while the Celtics only had 10 turnovers.
Jimmy Butler's team failed to slow down the Celtics' offense as it exploded in the second half to give them the lead. The Celtics shot for 51.2%, including 40.0% from 3-point range.
With Boston finally awoken in this series after dropping the first three games, Butler and Miami will look to bounce back in Game 5.
Jimmy Butler on the Miami Heat's mindset after Game 4
Following the Game 4 loss at home, Jimmy Butler spoke to the media regarding the team's mindset moving forward:
“The only thing I’m going to say is, We’ll be OK. Let’s get back to doing what we’ve always done to get us to this point. Continually have belief in one another, knowing that we are going to win, and we will. We’ve just got to play harder.There’s not too much to say with this group because we already know. So we’ve just got to go out there and execute.”
Similar to Butler's comments, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the team's season-long desperate energy as the needed mindset.
“Sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned,” Spoelstra said. “A lot of what we did this year has been the hard way, and we’ve been able to find ways to win even if the team plays well or not. [The Celtics] got us tonight. You gotta give them credit for that. There’s no doubt about it. We have to regroup and get ready for a great opportunity in Boston."