Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler has flipped the switch in the NBA playoffs

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler has been fantastic in the NBA playoffs, shooting lights out offensively in their first five games.

When it comes to Jimmy Butler, his work ethic is never in question. His gritty, roughened leadership spread contagiously throughout the Miami Heat’s locker room, turning a mix of savvy veterans along with fresh youngsters into a legitimate championship threat with him at the helm.

Leading the team in points, assists, and steals per game in the regular season, Butler was clearly the engine that made this team go. In 55 regular-season games during this roller coaster ride of a season, the 5-time All-Star averaged 19.9 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game, clocking in an all-around effort every night.

Despite how stellar he was, one thing that hindered Butler’s game was his 3-point shooting, where he connected on just 24.4 percent of his attempts on the season. That placed him among the worst in the league, but still, the Miami Heat finished the regular season with the second-best 3-point percentage in the league, totaling 37.9 percent.

All in all, Butler had a fantastic 55 games, but the most important question revolved around what he could do in the postseason, and he has not disappointed. In fact, he has been exceptional.

In five games so far in the 2020 NBA playoffs, Butler is averaging 23.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. The forward’s defense has also picked up, averaging 2.8 steals per game and a single blocked shot to make his presence felt on both ends of the floor, leading Miami to a perfect 5-0 record.

Jimmy Butler’s 3-point shot revives itself in the NBA playoffs

The most significant improvement, however, has been Butler’s 3-point shot that previously had been holding him back. Given how abysmal he shot the ball in the regular season, it appeared that he might be a liability from behind the arc once the NBA playoffs rolled around. Instead, the 24.4 percent 3-point shooter has flipped the switch entirely, connecting on a sensational 66.7 percent of his shots from downtown.

Butler is not shooting the 3-pointer in large quantities, just 1.8 attempts per game, but he is connecting on 1.2 of those attempts, compared to 0.5 shots on 2.1 attempts per game in the regular season.

Knowing Butler and that insane work ethic he has, the 30-year-old likely worked on that shot all throughout the five-month hiatus, and it is paying off.

This included a perfect 2-for-2 showing from deep in Miami’s 115-104 Game 1 win against the league-best Milwaukee Bucks, where Butler was near flawless. The forward finished with a postseason career-high 40 points on 13-for-20 field goal shooting, joining LeBron James and Dwyane Wade as the only players in franchise history to score 40 or more points in a playoff game.

As Butler was demolishing Milwaukee’s defense, TNT fittingly reported mid-game that the forward was taking an interesting approach to the NBA’s visiting policy. Players that are still in the postseason can have their families come into the bubble once they clear a mandatory quarantine, but Butler passed on the idea.

"“This is a business trip for me. I’m not messing around. Everyone wants to have their family, without a doubt. But we’ve been doing this for this long, what’s another couple of months? It is an individual decision and I respect that decision that my teammates make but I’m here for business.”"

After his 40 point onslaught last night, it would undoubtedly appear that Jimmy Butler is all business, and he has no plans of changing that anytime soon. The Miami Heat were a dark horse contender heading into the postseason, but if Butler can keep shooting the ball lights out as he has done so far, it would only add fuel to the fire.