The Miami Heat fought back as Jimmy Butler had one more punch left in the bag to force a Game 7.
Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden was set to be somewhat of a coronation night for the Boston Celtics. They were finally going to break through to the NBA Finals, putting the final touches on the injured and undermanned Miami Heat on their home floor.
The writing was on the wall, the same one that the Heat’s backs were against as they were again going to be without Tyler Herro. Not to mention Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry had been shells of themselves in the previous three games.
There was little-to-no hope for the Heat, who entered the game as nine-point underdogs on some books.
The feeling heading into the game was that it was a formality. And the only reason the two teams were taking the court was that they had to. However, Game 6 started off…oddly.
Jimmy didn’t have dead legs. The Heat was actually making 3’s. There was a bit of life for the Heat, as doubt slowly began to fill the air for the home team.
In the end, it was a full 48-minute fight in which the Heat prevailed by eight points behind Jimmy’s historic performance. He finished with 47 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and four steals.
LeBron James game 6 in Boston, 2012:
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) May 28, 2022
45/15/5
Jimmy Butler game 6 in Boston, 2022:
47/9/8 and 4 steals
A top 5 playoff performance in Miami Heat history.
Sunday in Miami: Game 7. @5ReasonsSports
This single-game performance will forever live in Heat history, even if they go on to lose Game 7 to the Celtics. However, should they win Game 7, this Game 6 could end up being the greatest performance in team playoff history (not counting Dwyane Wade’s absurd NBA Finals run in 2006).
Jimmy has already proven his worth to the Heat (and the rest of the league for that matter). What he’s done in this postseason is nothing short of sensational. Even with a bum knee, the fact that Jimmy was able to put this type of performance together is nothing short of amazing.
Jimmy and the Heat could’ve packed it in and thrown the towel in on the series. That didn’t happen in Boston. In fact, the exact opposite happened.
Instead of rolling over, the Heat, led by Jimmy, put together one of their best performances of the series. Even Lowry had his best performance of his injury-riddled playoff run.
Now, the Heat will be tasked with doing it again. In Game 7. On their home floor. Against a Celtics team that hasn’t lost back-to-back games all playoffs long. Good luck.