Jimmy Butler will likely miss the entirety of the Miami Heat's first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics, but his mind is still very much in the playoffs. After his team evened out the series with a 111-101 win during Wednesday's Game 2, Butler went on Instagram to troll his opponents.
"Feeling cute, might delete later," he wrote under a photo of a quote by Celtics guard Jaylen Brown. "Sikeeeee I ain't deleting s---."
The "don't let us get one" quote is from Jaylen Brown in last year's playoffs. The Celtics All-Star said it when Boston trailed Butler and the Heat 0-3 in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics won three straight games, but Miami won Game 7 in Boston to reach the NBA Finals.
Butler sprained the MCL in his right knee during the Heat's Play-In Tournament loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last week. Without him, his team suffered a 114-94 loss in Game 1 in Boston, but the Heat bounced back with an impressive shooting night on Wednesday. The Heat went 23-for-43 from 3-point range, registering the most 3-pointers in a postseason game in franchise history.
Although he is not currently out on the court, Butler is still checking in with his teammates and making sure everyone stays locked in.
Tyler Herro, who led the Heat with 24 points and 14 assists in Game 2, said during his postgame interview that Butler texted to give him to boost up the team's confidence.
"Just before the series, JB texted me to take the team and lead these guys," Herro said. "Just make every right play. It's not all about scoring, in the playoffs you gotta make the right play. Our guys showed up tonight -- Caleb Martin, Nikola, everybody. Jaime.... everybody came to play. We lost bad in Game 1 and everybody responded. That's all you can ask for from a group of guys."
The Heat will try keep their momentum going as they host the next two games of the first round series. Game 3 is set for Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
