Jimmy Butler‘s stellar postseason run continued, and the Miami Heat still look nothing like a No. 8 seed.
Butler had 35 points, seven assists, six steals and five rebounds, and the Heat — a team that almost was eliminated in the play-in round — struck first in the Eastern Conference finals by topping the Boston Celtics 123-116 in Game 1.
Butler is averaging 31.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.1 steals in these playoffs on 52% shooting. The only player to do all that in a single postseason while shooting at least 50% is Michael Jordan — who pulled it off twice. (That doesn’t count Kawhi Leonard, who did it this year but appeared in only two playoff games.)
Miami improved to 9-3 in the playoffs. The other nine No. 8 seeds in the last five seasons combined for a total of 10 wins.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Denver will aim for a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals on Thursday. Game 2 in the East title series will be played in Boston on Friday.
LEBRON DOWN 0-1
LeBron James hardly seemed worried after the Lakers lost Game 1 to Denver. He’s used to being in this position.
James’ teams — Cleveland, Miami and now the Lakers — have trailed a series 1-0 on 22 different occasions.
The first four times it happened, Cleveland lost Game 2 as well. But since then, James seems to have figured out how to handle this spot. His clubs are 13-4 in Game 2s in their last 17 games following a Game 1 loss.
James’ record by game in series:
— Game 1s: 31-22, .585
— Game 2s: 37-15, .712
— Game 3s: 33-19, .635
— Game 4s: 37-15, .712
— Game 5s: 22-16, .579
— Game 6s: 16-8, .667
— Game 7s: 6-2, .750
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
— Teams were 30-2 in this year’s playoffs when winning at least three quarters — that is, before Miami lost three quarters and beat the Celtics on Wednesday night. The two other instances of such a win: Golden State on April 23 vs. Sacramento, and Miami on April 24 vs. Milwaukee.
— The Heat tied an NBA record by having six players score at least 15 points in a playoff game. It had happened on 18 previous occasions, including earlier this season when the Bucks had six with that many in a win over the Heat.
— Boston is now 10-11 in its last 21 home playoff games. The Celtics are 10-5 in their last 15 road playoff games.
— LeBron James is scheduled to play in his 66th conference finals game on Thursday night, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most in NBA history. The NBA started calling this round the “conference finals” in 1971.
QUOTABLE
“We played harder than them in the first half. And they outplayed us for one quarter.” — Boston coach Joe Mazzulla, after the Celtics gave up 46 third-quarter points and lost Game 1 of the East finals to Miami.
