Miami Heat star wing Jimmy Butler was back at it again during the team’s Game 4 outing against the Hawks in Atlanta Sunday evening.
With Miami looking to take a 3-1 lead in the first-round NBA Playoff series, Jimmy was a bucket waiting to happen.
Two games after dropping a playoff career-high 45 points, Butler connected on 12-of-21 shots for 36 points while adding 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals in a brilliant all-around performance.
Atlanta held a one-point lead after the first quarter before Miami outscored it by 15 points in the second stanza. It was pretty much over from there with Trae young and Co. struggling against an elite Miami defense.
All said, the Hawks scored a mere 86 points in the ugly 24-point home loss. Young was locked down by the likes of Jimmy Butler once again — scoring nine points while shooting a mere 3-of-11 from the field and finishing minus-27 in 36 minutes of action.
Even without Kyle Lowry (hamstring) in the mix, the Miami Heat offense was lethal throughout the game. In addition to Jimmy Butler dropping 36 points, all four other members of the Heat starting lineup chipped in with double-digit points. That included Max Strus scoring 12 points while finishing plus-34. Gabe Vincent added 11 points and three 3-pointers in Lowry’s stead.
Now up 3-1 in the first-round series, Miami can close things out Tuesday night in South Beach. For his part, Butler is averaging 30.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.8 steals through the first four games of the series. That’s insane.
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