Miami Heat are preparing to face the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night. Jimmy Butler will face Jayson Tatum in a battle of the two best players to stay alive in the Eastern playoffs this season.
The Heat guard/forward had nothing but praise for Tatum ahead of Gm 1 of the series in Miami. Butler knows that any success in the series will be factored by the way Miami will defend against Tatum.
“He’s one of the best in the game right now,” Butler told reporters. “As much attention as he draws on the offensive end — and then I think what’s really impressive is the way that he’s picked up his defensive intensity.
Tatum is coming off a series of dominant performance vs the reigning champions Milwaukee Bucks. The Cs superstar had to put up 46 points in Game 6 to keep Boston alive in the semifinal series and give them the chance to close the Bucks at TD Boston Garden.
“You got to tip your hat to that and respect him, I think those are the guys that you want to go up against,” Butler continued. Butler experienced his share of dominance in the series vs the Sixers in the second round.
Butler has two 40+ point games in every series this year starting with a playoff career-high 45 vs Atlanta in the first round. He put up 40 in Gm 4 vs Philadelphia and 32 in Gm6 at Wells Fargo Center to close the series vs his former team.
“Either team that we were to end up facing, whether it be Milwaukee or Boston, is a really, really, really good team,” said Butler. “It is Boston. We’re looking forward to it. I guess you got to beat the best to be the best.”
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