butler

Throwing Anthony Davis on Butler had a huge impact on Butler struggling to score.

Prior to Game 4, Davis had defended Butler on 16 possessions during this series, according to Second Spectrum, and Butler didn’t score at all.

He also unleashed a flurry of pinpoint passes to teammates who benefited from their own mismatch or the attention Butler drew.

The last month and a half has included end-of-game scoring heroics from Butler, Dončić, Donovan Mitchell, Jamal Murray, OG Anunoby, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokić, Fred VanVleet and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Without his two best teammates, Butler became the first player to outscore, outrebound and outassist LeBron James in a Finals game.

As Butler cemented the Heat’s championship vision, Philly’s own was obscured by shrunken spacing and an inconsistent tempo, enough for Embiid to question the team’s offensive identity altogether.

Because the 76ers didn’t secure Butler long-term and he left for Miami, they ended up compounding the contrasts between Embiid and Simmons by shrinking their room for error and scoring.

In an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols before the start of the playoffs, Butler said he thought the Heat had what it took to win the championship.

Just like Butler, Tatum is second on his own team in postseason WAR, trailing point guard Kemba Walker.

The latter had been reading a new publication, which she laid down at the voice of the butler announcing a visitor.