Jimmy Butler scored 41 points (17 alone in the third), nine rebounds, five assists, four steals, and three blocked shots while his Miami Heat beat the Marcus Smart and Al Horford-less Boston Celtics 118-107 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night. Jayson Tatum scored 29 points and Jaylen Brown added 24 for Boston. Game 2 is set for Thursday.
“Jimmy Butler is an elite competitor,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said, via ESPN. “There’s a lot of guys in this league that are playing basketball. He’s competing to win. That’s a totally different thing and he does that as well as anybody in this league.”
