The playoffs are where stars carve out their legacies. The NBA playoffs are the same. In the NBA, teams usually need a star to compete for a title. Jimmy Butler is the man for the Miami Heat, but he has never been considered a top NBA player. The best ball of anyone remaining may be playing by the rules of the playoffs. I think he is the most under appreciated star still playing.
Seven of the eight teams had at least one player finish in the top 10 of the voting for the Most Valuable Player. The only team that didn't have a player get an award was Miami. The Phoenix Suns had two players. Through the first two rounds of the playoffs, he outplayed most of them, even though he has never been considered a top 10 player in the NBA.
There seems to be something about the playoffs that gets him going. He has two 40-point performances in the playoffs after not scoring a point in 57 regular-season games. He increased his scoring average from 21.4 to 28.6 in the playoffs. In the series against Philadelphia, he is averaging over 26 points per game.
When the best players in the league are mentioned, they never mention the name of Butler. He isn't mentioned in the top 15 often. Jimmy has played like a top-three player, and it would be hard to argue against that. He scored a game high 32 points in the 99-90 victory over the 76ers in Game 6 of the series. In games Miami has lost, the play of butler has kept the Heat in striking distance.
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