Jimmy Butler is a frightening problem for Boston

BOSTON -- Perhaps, even though the Heat made the conference finals as an eight seed, there was some room to diminish some of their achievements.

Sure, they buzzed through the NBA's best team in the Bucks ... but Giannis Antetokounmpo missed two games of that series and clearly wasn't at full strength. And sure, they needed just six games to get through the second round ... but they lucked into a matchup with the Knicks, who just weren't a potent team.

So, for the first time in almost a quarter-century, an eighth-seeded team reached the conference finals. It was an accomplishment, no doubt. But with a healthy Celtics team rolling into the series after figuring out their own issues last weekend, it was time for a reality check for the underdogs in the East.

Or ... not.

The Heat played the perfect road game on Wednesday night in Game 1 in Boston, withstanding the Celtics' early punch before delivering their own haymaker coming out of halftime. The final result was a 123-116 win. And the lasting impression is that Jimmy Butler continues to be a problem for opponents this postseason. The Celtics now know that firsthand.

Butler scored a game-high 35 points while also leading the Heat with seven assists and grabbing eight rebounds -- three of which came on the offensive end. He also was a force defensively, recording six steals against a Celtics team that got careless with the basketball. And his long-range three to beat the shot clock put an unofficial end to the game a full minute before the final buzzer sounded.

It was, quite clearly, a dynamite performance. But you'd never know it by watching Butler. If you watched Butler's walk-off interview with TNT, you'd see no bombast, no celebration, and no assumptions about what that Game 1 performance could mean going forward. He really just seemed like a guy who was ready to play Game 2 as soon as Game 1 ended. 

"Very much critical," Butler answered when asked of the importance to steal a game on the road. "We want to win as many games as we can in as short an amount of time as we can. We did our job tonight. Like I said, we got another one to get in two days I think."

Jimmy Butler had just turned in what would be a performance of a lifetime for most any basketball player. Yet he's out there seconds after it ended looking and sounding like the NBA's version of The Terminator.

A little later in the night, Butler was just as stoic in his postgame press conference as he was on the floor.

Butler was asked what the confidence boost was like for him and the Heat after some stray boos that were shouted down at the home team during the third quarter.

"Absolutely nothing, honestly," Butler answered plainly. "We're a confident group. Whether we are up 10, down 10, we're not too worried about the opposing team. I think whenever you do that, you get lost in what got you where. And we were so worried about us all year long and how we can be the best version of ourselves, that if we are up 10, down 10, we still need to play our style of basketball, we still need to be together, share the ball, get stops. Booing, no booing -- we've got to worry about the Miami Heat."

Butler was also asked if he believes he's playing at his highest level possible right now.

"I don't think so," he responded. 

He expanded on why he feels that way, but the direct answer there won't help anyone in Boston feel better about Game 2 and beyond.

The first time Butler did show a hint of emotion came at the end of his press conference, when a reporter stated that he doesn't imagine the Heat feel like an eight seed.

"Uh, that's a question?" Butler replied.

The reporter then asked if, going back to Miami's loss in the play-in game to Atlanta and their win in the subsequent play-in game over Chicago, the team believed that a run like this was possible.

"Damn right I did. Damn right we did," Butler answered. "And the best part about it is we still don't care what none of y'all think, honestly speaking. We don't care if you pick us to win. We never have, we never will. We know the group of guys we have in this locker room. We know that Coach [Erik Spoelstra] puts so much confidence and belief in each and every one of us. Coach Pat [Riley] as well. And so our circle is small, but this circle's got so much love for one another. We pump constant confidence into everybody. We go out there and we hoop, and we play basketball the right way, knowing that we always got a chance."

Butler is a man intent on winning a championship. He's not intent on winning one game in Boston, just like he wasn't intent on winning one game in Milwaukee. He's out there to get his ring, and he's deadly focused on that goal.

That is a guy that no opponent wants to deal with right now. Yet if the Celtics hope to get where they hope to go, they're going to have to get through Butler first.

Game 1 provided a bit of a reality check that getting past that guy at this stage is going to be a bear of a task.