The Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics began their Eastern Conference Finals series on Tuesday night in Miami. Boston controlled the first half and took an eight point lead into the locker room. Then Jimmy Butler took over the game. He outscored the Celtics by himself in the third quarter, 17-14, as Miami would win the quarter 39-14.

The Celtics made an early run in the fourth quarter, but Butler and the Heat put them away with an answer of their own. After the game, FOX Sports' Skip Bayless took to Twitter and made a bold declaration.

“I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: JIMMY BUTLER IS THE BEST PLAYER LEFT IN THE PLAYOFFS… AND HE WAS EASILY THE BEST PLAYER ON THE FLOOR TONIGHT.”

That's certainly noteworthy considering Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum are still playing.

There certainly is no argument to be made that he was not the best player Tuesday night. Butler finished with 41 points on 11-for-17 shooting. He made 17 of his 18 free throw attempts, and chipped in with nine rebounds and five assists.

This was Butler's third 40-point game in these playoffs. Even more impressive, this was his third playoff game as a member of the Miami Heat with 40-point, five rebound, five assist game. That is the most in Heat playoff franchise history as both LeBron James and Dwayne Wade only ever did that twice each.

Unless Boston can figure out a way to slow Butler down, this could be a short series. In the loss, Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 29 points but was just 2-for-9 from downtown and turned the ball over seven times.

Game 2 is Thursday night in Miami.