The Eastern Conference Finals were among the best series of the playoffs so far. In a toe-to-toe battle against the Miami Heat, the young and exciting Boston Celtics beat the competition in 7 games.
The turning point for Miami came down the stretch of the fourth quarter when Jimmy Butler shot (and missed) a pull-up three in transition.
It was a makeable shot for Butler, but a questionable decision nonetheless, especially with over 15 seconds left on the clock. On his podcast, Warriors veteran Draymond Green spoke candidly on the shot attempt by Butler.
(via Sam Leweck of Heat Nation):
“I personally think that shot shouldn’t have been taken,” Green said. “And the reason I thought that it was a bad shot was because that shot right there, that was it. That was like — the shot simply said, ‘We’re either winning this, or we’re going home.’ And once the shot was missed, it just felt like somebody took a little staple or a little safety pin and just poked right at the balloon, and the air just left out of the building once that shot was missed, as opposed to Jimmy Butler, who we know is absolutely amazing at getting to the rim and even better at getting to the rim and getting fouled. And so you have a backpedaling Al Horford with a ton of space with your shooters running to fill it in, and you’re sitting at 35 points. You’re at home, crowd’s into it. If Jimmy Butler drives that basketball and scores or if Jimmy even drives, the likelihood of you getting a foul call — and you’re on your home court, and Jimmy’s great at getting fouled — is significantly higher. And so if Jimmy drives that basketball and he scores, or he gets fouled, and the game is tied, all of the pressure then turns to the Boston Celtics.”
However you feel about the situation, Draymond isn’t completely wrong with his assessment of the situation. After the miss, the Heat practically gave up, and the game was effectively over.
Had Butler driven to the rim and invited the contact, he could have had an easier look or drawn the foul to tie the game.
Sadly, there will not be any re-dos and Miami will have to live with the result.
