Jimmy Butler didn't play up to his usual playoff standards in the NBA Finals. Was it because of the true severity of the Miami Heat star's ankle injury? Whatever you do, don't ask Erik Spoelstra about it.
The Heat head coach was fearful when asked about whether or not Jimmy Butler's ankle injury truly hampered his effectiveness in the five-game series they had against the Denver Nuggets.
“Do you want me to get beat up by Jimmy? Right now, you're setting me up for a physical altercation? No, he's fine. There's no excuses,” said Spoelstra.
Butler suffered an ankle injury in the second round when he got entangled with New York Knicks swingman Josh Hart. His play before and after the injury has been night and day. But it's clear that whether or not the ailment indeed bothered him, Butler wants no discussion centered around it that would be considered an excuse for his relatively poor play.
“There's an honor to the way Jimmy competes at this game that you absolutely have to admire and respect,” the Heat coach continued. “And that same honor is what this locker room is about. If you were watching this team compete, you had to respect what this group brought to every single game.”
Jimmy Butler fell to just the Heat's second-leading scorer in the NBA Finals behind Bam Adebayo. He averaged 21.6 points per game on a below-average 41.3 percent clip from the field. He also lacked the explosiveness and aggression that he usually has when the lights are brightest.
Butler missed shots he usually makes and wasn't as disruptive on the defensive end as fans have been accustomed to seeing from him, which further supports the idea that his ankle was bothering him more than he'd let on. He'll probably bring the truth behind his injury to his grave before he tells a member of NBA media.
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