Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat have been put in quite a difficult situation by Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics. As most active NBA fans will be aware, the Heat and Celtics have matched up for the Eastern Conference Finals. The winner of this series will go on to face the Denver Nuggets for the 2023 NBA Finals.
Although Miami entered this postseason as the 8th seed, they managed to exceed expectations and won two playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks. They even had a 3-0 lead on the Celtics and seemed set for another trip to the NBA Finals. This was largely due to the elite play displayed by Jimmy.
We all know what has happened since then. The Celtics have gone on a rampage and managed to win 3 straight games in a row. By doing so, they have flipped the script on the Heat. Especially since Boston has a homecourt advantage for this series.
When being interviewed after the unexpected Game 6 loss in Miami, Butler had quite an interesting statement to make about his current situation.
Will Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat lose a 3-0 lead to the Boston Celtics?
That is certainly on the verge of happening. Throughout the entire history of the NBA, no team that has been down 3-0 in a playoff series has come back to win it. Only 11 forced a Game 6 and 3 forced a Game 7. None of them were able to dig themselves out of the hole that they were put in.
Despite the fact that Boston was in this situation, they managed to rally and find a way to win 3 games in a row. Now, both teams have found themselves in the same position that they were in last postseason. Fans will remember that their series went to 7 games with the Celtics managing to come out on top. Since the rivalry with this franchise was also on the back of his mind, Butler had a poignant response when discussing the Game 6 loss.
“It’s very very entertaining. But that’s good basketball I think I believe you gonna get the same test till you pass it I swear. We were in the same position last year and we can do it. I know that we will do it. We gotta go on the road and win in a very very tough environment but we’re capable of it so…let’s get busy.”
One should certainly admire the mental composure Jimmy displayed throughout his post-game interview. After all his team is on the verge of making history and not in a good way. If Miami is unable to win on the road against the Boston Celtics, they will go down infamously in NBA history as the only team to blow a 3-0 lead in the playoffs.