Jimmy Butler had savage message for Joe Mazzula during Heat comeback
May 25, 2022; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) brings the ball up court during the fourth quarter of game five of the 2022 eastern conference finals against the Boston Celtics at FTX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Celtics may have made a mistake by riling up Jimmy Butler in Friday’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and Butler warned them about it in the moment, too.
One of the key moments of Miami’s 111-105 win was when Celtics forward Grant Williams started taunting Butler after Williams gave Boston a nine-point lead. Butler admitted after the game that the exchange got him going, as the Heat finished on a 24-9 run with Butler contributing nine points.
Butler said the same thing in the moment, too. According to ESPN commentator Mark Jones, Butler actually looked to Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla after the confrontation and asked, “You thought this would work?”
This is the moment Miami wonđź’Ż
I’m told Butler looked at Celtics coach Joe Mazzula and said
“you thought this would work ? ”And every time Butler hunted and scored on Grant Williams he said “this is what you wanted”.
Butler went Federal on emđź’Żpic.twitter.com/4JQSfOBtD9
— MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) May 20, 2023
Mazzulla probably did not want Williams going that hard after Butler, but the matchup definitely did not work out in Boston’s favor.
The Heat are thriving on Boston disrespect in this series. Now that the Celtics are down 2-0, maybe they’ll get the message and close out a game for once, though they’ll now have to do it in Miami.