Jimmy Butler leads Heat to 123-116 win over Celtics in Game 1

Jimmy Butler was the best player on the court tonight finishing the game with 35 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and an eye popping 6 steals. When the going got tough for the Celtics they inexplicably didn't go to Jayson Tatum, coming off his 51 point Game 7. Then when Boston finally started going to Tatum, the Heat swarmed him defensively and Tatum picked uo multiple turnovers.

Jaylen Brown also got hurt again and we'll see if his hand injury effects his shooting ballhandling in the coming games. The 8th seeded Miami Heat are very well coached and Jimmy Butler has that "dog in him" that everyone talks about when looking for a player to lead you deep in the playoffs.

Why you gotta make life so hard on us Celtics?

— CelticsLife.com (@celticslife) May 18, 2023

Joe Mazzulla said the Celtics lost their offensive focus and game plan discipline in the third quarter, and that was what allowed Miami to get going the way they did.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) May 18, 2023

Would love if we could borrow Spoelstra to come up with some coaching advice to smother Butler like Miami did Tatum and to get only single defensive coverage on Tatum like Butler gets.

— CelticsLife.com (@celticslife) May 18, 2023

46 points in the third quarter -- a Heat playoff record for any quarter.

43 was the previous mark, vs. Charlotte in 2016.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) May 18, 2023

Even Ben Simmons is shaking his head https://t.co/y5OPolpdQ1

— CelticsLife.com (@celticslife) May 18, 2023