NBA 2022: Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler's masterclass in numbers
Jimmy Butler filled the stat sheet to lead his team to a crucial win with 47 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and a block.
FollowWith his team's back against the wall, Jimmy Butler produced a performance for the ages with 47 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and a block. Jimmy began the game on fire, with 14 points and four assists in the first quarter. He scored or assisted more points than the entire Celtics team in the opening quarter. Butler struggled from the field in the second quarter but managed to get to the free-throw line, going 5/5 from the line. Most Butler's scoring came in the second half, where he scored 26 of his 47 points. Scoring-wise, Butler's most prolific in the fourth quarter, where he scored 17 points, saving his best for last. Butler ended the game with 16 makes out of 29 field-goal attempts, four three-point makes out of eight, and 11 makes out of 11 from the free-throw line.Â
With this performance, Butler had a 40-point game for the fourth time this postseason, making him the leader in 40-point playoff games in the NBA 2022 playoffs.
Butler also became the first player in Miami Heat franchise history to have multiple 45-point playoff games.
It wasn't the only record Butler broke for the Heat today, as he also surpassed LeBron James and Dwayne Wade to achieve the feat of having the most points in an elimination game for the Heat. Butler's 47 point performance also places him second all-time among all elimination games in NBA history (just behind Wilt Chamberlain)
Butler's two-way performance also included four steals, which meant he became the only player besides Michael Jordan to have multiple 40-point and four-steal performances in a single playoff series.
Butler also became one of three players in NBA history to record at least 45 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in an elimination game (along with Russell Westbrook).
Thanks to Butler's stat-sheet stuffing masterclass, the Heat find themselves in a Game 7 at home, where the Heat will hope that Butler replicates his form from Game 6.
Â
