Jimmy Butler key to 76ers’ title dreams
A new player made his debut with the 76ers in the Game 2 win over the Raptors.
“This was James Butler,” coach Brett Brown said Monday after the 94-89 win in Toronto. “That was the adult in the gym.”
Brown is, of course, referring to fourtime All-Star Jimmy Butler, who has been with Philadelphia since he forced his way out of Minnesota in November. But Brown’s message was heard loud and clear.
Butler scored a team-high 30 points and added 11 rebounds and five assists, making him one of just five players to record such a stat line so far in this postseason. He also sank four 3-pointers, and his 10 attempts from beyond the arc were the most of his career.
“I get as excited at the volume of threes that he sought as much as anything,” Brown said. “He was just a tremendous rock. He willed us to a lot of different situations.”
The 76ers’ win tied the second-round series as it heads to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4 beginning Thursday. The Sixers are looking to advance to the Eastern Conference finals (and beyond) for the first time since the Allen Iversonled group in 2001, and for that to happen, Butler will need to build off his stellar performance and continue to play like the two-way star the 76ers expect him to be.
Aside from Monday night and his 36point outing in Game 1 of the Sixers’ first-round series against Brooklyn, Butler has been disappointing, averaging 10.6 points in five games, including 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting in Saturday’s Game 1 against Toronto.
The Sixers are one of the most talented groups in the league, so an off night from Butler or one of the other stars — Joel Embiid (12 points Monday), Ben Simmons (six points), Tobias Harris (nine points) or JJ Redick (11 points) — is OK. But not night after night, and not against teams like Toronto or Milwaukee or Boston.
Butler wanted none of the James vs. Jimmy talk after the win — nor did he want to look at his contributions on the offensive end of the floor.
“My name isn’t James. It literally is Jimmy,” Butler told reporters with a smile when he was told of Brown’s comments. “All in all, it was a team effort. I always go back to defense. We get stops, we’re taking off into the open floor.
“Guys are making plays, like Jo and Ben. When we’re playing like that, guarding like that, we’re such a good team. We definitely have to continue to do it, and know that on any given night, it’s gonna be somebody’s night. We have the group of guys that anybody can get hot, anybody can put the ball in the basket. Feed that hot hand.”
The 76ers held the Raptors to 89 points on 36.3% shooting, a significant improvement from the 108 points on 51.9% shooting Philadelphia allowed in Game 1.
“Jimmy Butler’s a gamer,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “A late gamer, a big time — he wasn’t gonna be quiet this whole series, right? This guy can play. We know that.”