Nikola Jokic and Jimmy Butler had a similar path to the 2023 NBA Finals, most of the time carrying their teams to get wins but others getting helped by their teammates to secure important wins.
Butler hasn’t gone on big runs during the Finals and haven’t had 40+ or 50+ point games to his name, which made people criticize him. JJ Redick has come in Butler’s defense, explaining that his playstyle is very similar to Nikola Jokic in the way they involve their teammates to win games.
“Looking at performances like tonight, where he goes for 24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, that’s a normal Jimmy game, that’s how he plays. The anomalies to me are the 40 balls, are the 56 points game against Milwaukee,” Redick started.
“In the same way, in some regards to the way Jokic plays in terms of valuing the connection with teammates and having joy in his teammates’ scoring, Jimmy feels that, too,” he added.
This makes all the sense in the world since Jimmy knows he a star and can take over games, but there’s a time for him to do that. Most of the time, he’s focused on getting everybody involved and this formula has helped him take some pressure off his shoulders and lead the Miami Heat to get big wins.
Just like Nikola Jokic, who can facilitate scoring for his teammates, Butler knows he doesn’t need to take care of everything on every possession and trusts his teammates. Even after Game 1, where the Heat’s shooters struggled to score, he said he’d keep trusting them no matter what.
The Key Difference Between Jimmy Butler And Nikola Jokic In The Finals
Butler stuck to his words, but contrary to Jokic’s teammates, the Heat’s role players haven’t responded as expected to this challenge. While Christian Braun came out of the blue and helped the Nuggets take Game 3, Aaron Gordon did the same in Game 4, taking the Nuggets to a 3-1 lead.
Miami is in a complex position now, as they have to win three consecutive games to win the championship. This seems unlikely to happen, but they remain confident in their chances. Udonis Haslem protected and defended his teammates after Game 4, saying that if they stop making mistakes, the team will be fine moving forward.
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