MIAMI, FL – The NBA Finals shift to South Florida after the Miami Heat evened up the series with the Denver Nuggets at 1-1. Jimmy Butler, however, has remained relatively pedestrian given what we're used to seeing out of ‘Playoff Jimmy' the last few postseasons.

Jimmy Butler kicked off the postseason in strong fashion, averaging 33.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game on 56.1 percent shooting from the field in his first eight games for the Miami Heat. It was another appearance for, Playoff Jimmy,' who we've come to expect to appear in these big postseason games.

Since then, Butler has only registered one 30+ point game in 11 playoff games, and has averaged just 22.7 points on 40.5 percent shooting from the field. He has upped his rebounding (7.2 per game), assists (6.5 per game), and steals (2.1 per game), but has struggled to be the scorer that he was to start the 2023 playoffs.

Watching Butler, you know he has the ability to heat up in a hurry. Entering the Nuggets series, Butler had 17 quarters this postseason in which scored at least 10 points. Through eight quarters in Games 1 and 2, Jimmy Butler's highest scoring quarter was the fourth quarter of Game 2, where he finished with eight points.

At times, it's looked as if he's not being aggressive enough or putting the Heat on his back. It sounds good in theory, but that's just not how the Heat play.

“I'm not a scorer,” Jimmy Butler said before Game 3. “Just because I score a lot of points one game, that doesn't make you a scorer. I'm not a volume shooter. I don't do any of that. I don't press to score. I only press to win.

“If I pass the ball every possession, if we win, I don't care. If I shoot the ball every possession and we win, I don't care. This, ‘Playoff Jimmy' narrative is not a thing. I just want to win along with everybody else. I don't worry about too much other things aside from winning.”

It's one thing to say that Butler is not a scorer. He can score the ball whenever he wants to, but he's right: he's not a volume shooter and almost never has been. To deny the, ‘Playoff Jimmy,' narrative, however, is another, and as much as he hates it, Jimmy Butler is wrong. ‘Playoff Jimmy,' absolutely exists. It's the reason Miami is the first play-in team to not only win a series, but to advance to the NBA Finals.

‘Playoff Jimmy,' is the reason a lot of teams toward the bottom of the NBA playoff standings will continue to convince themselves into thinking they can make a deep playoff run. And the absence of their own, ‘Playoff Jimmy,' will be the reason they fall short.

‘Playoff Jimmy,' isn't just a scorer, a passer, or a defender. ‘Playoff Jimmy,' is a high-level basketball player who is also, above all else, a leader. A leader who will take ownership of the losses and sing his teammates' praises when they win. There was no better example of that than after the Heat's Game 1 loss versus the Nuggets.

When asked about what his message for Max Strus and Caleb Martin, who combined to shoot 1-of-17 from the field in Game 1, here's what Butler had to say:

“I need to say to them, ‘I'm still going to throw you the ball, and if you miss the next ten, if you're open on that 11th one, I'm still going to throw you the ball, because you'll never be the reason why we lose. It's always a group effort. I want you to take the same shots because they are going to be there. We are going to throw you the ball. Stay aggressive because you've been the reason that we have won so many games before. You are going to be the reason that we win games now, and that's never going to change.'

“I have a lot of faith in those guys. I'm in their corner, Bam is in their corner, [Erik Spoelstra], Coach Pat [Riley], everybody. So when everybody is in your corner, you only have one job to do: Shoot the ball.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who has been magnificent coaching and adjusting to certain situations throughout his coaching tenure, says Jimmy Butler has been perfect for Miami.

“He is a two-way basketball player,” Spoelstra explained of ‘Playoff Jimmy.' “He does so many winning things that, I think unfortunately, when you view maybe a 56-point game, everybody on the outside views that he has to do that every game to impact winning. He understands the levers that contribute to winning.

“He is doing it on both sides of the floor. He has an incredibly tough cover defensively; that matters. Then offensively I still just think we have a great place where everybody feels settled. If your role players can step in and start playing great, it's usually because they feel a confidence level from the best players, and that's Jimmy and Bam. They infuse all of our guys to be aggressive.

“The way they defend, they're prioritizing protecting the paint against him, so he has to make the right reads. Then down the stretch, those were his best moments. That's really key for us when you're in those close games. However many points he had in the last six minutes, his fingerprints were all over the game down the stretch.”

As a scorer, Caleb Martin says it's very easy to play alongside Jimmy Butler.

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“He just tells us what spots to be in and he's gonna get it there,” Martin added. “It's kind of as simple as that. He does a great job of getting everybody involved. He's a superstar who's super unselfish. I think that's hard not to want to play with. We love it on this side playing with him for sure.”

Depending on the situation, Butler has simply learned to adapt to whatever his team needs, whether it's scoring, facilitating, or guarding the best player and getting a stop on the defensive end.

Butler tried to deny his leadership skills ahead of the Finals, again putting it on the former players and people who have been around him.

“So many of my former teammates have shaped me into this, ‘leader,' that you think that you see in front of you today. Not perfect or anywhere near it in any way, but I'm me. My style of “leadership” works here.

“But more than anything, I've got to give a shout-out to D-Wade because he had always told me about the culture here and how it fits who I am, what I'm about and how I go about things. You see it everywhere; it really is a match made in heaven. I love it here, and I hope to be here.”

Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat will tip off Game 3 of the 2023 NBA Finals against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at 8:30 PM EST on ABC.