The Miami Heat were dealt another defeat in their second-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. But it's hard to pin the blame on Jimmy Butler.
The Heat All-Star tallied 40 points in their Game 4 loss after piling on 33 in Game 3. Jimmy Butler has played in true superstar form while his teammates have largely struggled around him of late.
While Butler's performances didn't result in a win for his Heat, it did secure him a couple of places in the franchise's record books. His second consecutive game of at least 30 points puts him on a three-man list with Heat icons LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
Jimmy Butler has scored 30+ points in consecutive playoff games for the first time in his career.
Butler is the 3rd different Heat player with consecutive 30-point playoff games, joining Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. pic.twitter.com/C93Y2ywwQO
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 9, 2022
Jimmy Butler was also able to surpass a milestone that LeBron James wasn't able to do. The Heat star recorded his fourth 40-point playoff game in a Heat uniform, which is one more than King James had in his Miami postseason career and just three shy of D-Wade's career mark.
Tonight marks Jimmy Butler’s 4th Playoff game with 40+ points as a member of the @MiamiHEAT, passing LeBron James (3) for the 2nd most such games in Heat Franchise history, trailing only Dwyane Wade (7 such games). pic.twitter.com/KjgxkzRk3E
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) May 9, 2022
What's extra impressive is that Jimmy Butler tallied his four 40-point outings in just 33 career playoff games with the Heat. He passed LeBron, who had close to triple Butler's chances at 87 career playoff games while Dwyane Wade had nearly double that at 171 opportunities.
It's clear that Jimmy Butler has been big time for the Miami Heat. The rest of the roster needs to step up to support him as they try to return back to the NBA Finals.