Video: Heat's Jimmy Butler Says Celtics, Knicks Would Be 'Home' If He Wasn't Injured
Joseph Zucker@@JosephZucker
Featured Columnist IVMay 4, 2024
Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler believes his injury was the one thing that kept his team out of the second round in the 2024 NBA playoffs.
An MCL injury sidelined Butler for the entirety of Miami's five-game series loss to the Boston Celtics. In a video shared on social media, he said the Celtics "would be at home" if he had suited up:
He said the same thing about the New York Knicks, who dispatched the Philadelphia 76ers in six games. New York has the Indiana Pacers on tap in the second round and would've played Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals if both teams had advanced that far.
With the Knicks so short-handed, an upset was plausible.
Regarding the Celtics, you can't totally dismiss Butler's comments after Miami sent them packing in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. We've seen the Heat far exceed expectations in the playoff crucible on multiple occasions in recent years.
Head coach Erik Spoelstra didn't agree with the six-time All-Star's general assessment, though. He told reporters after Game 5 that "we're not going to put this on the fact that we've had some injuries."
Having a healthy Butler wouldn't have changed the fact the Heat are a little worse and the Celtics are a little better than they were a season ago.
For Miami, that starts with its best player. Butler's scoring average (20.8 points) was his lowest since 2019-20 and he was once again sidelined for stretches, missing 22 regular-season games. There was a reason the Heat attempted to acquire Damian Lillard in the offseason; they need another star to pair with Butler to truly get over the top.
Boston, meanwhile, has benefited from the additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis. The team won more games (64) than any other team and had the highest net rating (plus-11.7), per NBA.com.
It's reasonable to question the Celtics' title credentials until they're lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy. But their performance against the Heat left little room for doubt in terms of which of the two rosters was superior.