Home

NBA

“Can’t Do This Against AD”: Hall of Famer Makes Bold Claim Against Jimmy Butler

Published 10/08/2020, 10:42 AM EDT

Follow Us

USA Today via Reuters

Jimmy Butler seems to have hit a wall against the LA Lakers. While Game 3 saw him pull off an upset behind a 40-point triple-double, Game 4 went LA’s way. LeBron James and Anthony Davis end up weighing heavily on Miami as a game goes on. LA is proving they have the tools to continue regardless of Jimmy Butler.

Hall of Famer Kevin McHale believes that Miami will struggle because they don’t have an elite primary scoring option, as Jimmy Butler can’t have regular strong games against Anthony Davis.. (h/t The Miami Herald)

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“When you watch Miami play, they don’t have a guy you can give it to and say ‘Here, this is the ball. You’re at your spot and go get us a hoop’ [where] the defense knows that’s his spot and they have to double-team him there.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

“They sometimes have to have five or six different actions to get a decent shot in this series in one possession. All good championships teams have that guy you can give it to on his spot on the floor… Everybody had a player you can go to. Miami doesn’t have that. They’ve got to generate offense with so much motion. It’s hard to generate good shots against good playoff defense especially after three or four games in a row. They don’t have that guy. Jimmy Butler can’t do this against AD.”

Jimmy Butler proving to be not enough?

USA Today via Reuters

While Jimmy Butler has established himself as a top-tier NBA player, he just can’t take on LeBron James and Anthony Davis alone. The team around Butler is great, but a lot of the players are still a little too young to be able to outsmart a team with LBJ and AD.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Every time Butler figures out the Lakers’ defense, they make adjustments to further stifle him. And Miami doesn’t have a reliable scorer outside Butler to help them in those rough patches. Tyler Herro is just a rookie, and Bam Adebayo is still building his offensive game. Sadly, this year might have been a year too early for this surging Miami squad. Even if they fall to LA, they can only progress from this point on.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest NBA stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Ishaan Bhattacharya

1,510Articles

One take at a time

Ishaan Bhattacharya is an NBA, NCAA Basketball, and Combat Sports writer at EssentiallySports. Currently, Ishaan is pursuing a Post Graduate Degree in Journalism from Xavier's Institute of Communication. Previously, Ishaan has written for The Indian Express, The Quint, Sportskeeda, and WrestleClub.
Show More>