Philadelphia 76ers: Top 20 plays of the 2018-19 NBA season
By Derek Hryn
12. Jimmy Butler game-winning 3 over Nets
Might as well make it a double.
Just days following his uplifting game-winner against the Charlotte Hornets, Jimmy Butler cursed the Brooklyn Nets.
Similar to the Charlotte matchup, the Sixers were woeful defensively, allowing D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie combine for 69 points. Of course, the degree at which Butler was playing made those numbers seem like child’s play. The seven-year vet went off for 34 points, and delivered another go-ahead jumper just before the buzzer.
Sure, Babe Ruth called his shot once. But did he ever do it twice in one week with the game on the line? Jimmy Buckets doesn’t think so.
https://twitter.com/nba/status/1066866666498387968
11. Ben Simmons hopping behind-the-back dime to Jimmy Butler vs. Raptors
Jimmy Butler wasn’t named an All-Star this past season. Nobody cared. Had he resided in the same location for an entire 82 games, it would’ve been the fifth selection of his eight-year career. A player once deemed the antithesis of an ideal teammate, Butler displayed no groveling whatsoever when he took a year off from the festivities — not to mention was the proudest confidant when Ben Simmons received his career-first selection.
The pair quickly established a solid rapport in early-December, when they secretly arranged to flaunt matching headbands against the Toronto Raptors — a little flashy, but not any more than Simmons’ behind-the-back pass here to Butler.
It’s possible that Playoff Jimmy prefers playing alongside two All-Stars 82 games per year, in lieu of a full team of them for one night in February.