“I Ain’t Deleting S***”: Injured Jimmy Butler Triggers Painful Memories For Celtics With Bitter 2023 Reminder

The Boston Celtics took the win in Game 1, but the Miami Heat decided to give a taste of last year’s playoffs in Game 2. Jimmy Butler-less Heat took down the Cs 111-101 tonight at TD Garden. Although Miami’s superstar was absent on the court, it didn’t stop him from being part of the victory.

The two teams are old enemies. Last season’s playoffs also saw the pair of them battling it out in a tight contest. With Miami taking the lead 3-0, the Celtics made their own comeback tying the series 3-3 in Game 6. But the Heat rallied and got the Game 7 win to advance to the semi-finals.

But not before Jaylen Brown made a statement that has since become quite popular. After the Game 5 win, JB said, “They let us get two. Don’t let us get another one.” Butler took to Instagram, his target Brown, as he photoshopped his face into a Celtics player and captioned the post in a way only Jimmy can.

“feeling cute, might delete later. sikeeeee I ain’t deleting s***.”

But Marcus Smart was the one who said it initially. After losing the first three games, much to the chagrin and shock of the fans, the team looked determined to not give up easily. And Smart spoke for the whole team when he said, “Don’t let us get one.” Brown continued the same when asked how he felt about facing Miami for Game 4.

They obviously kept their word. But Butler and the Heat got the better of them in the final round. Will it be a repeat of the same this season, too? Especially when the Boston Celtics are heavy contenders for the championship this season?

Jimmy Butler out? No problem! Miami knows to sweat the Celtics

What stood out the most in tonight’s Heat win is undoubtedly their 3-point bombardment. Miami recorded franchise-high triples when the team smoldered the Celtics with 23 three-pointers. With Jimmy Butler sidelined, no one expected the Heat to step up. In fact, they were 14.5 underdogs going into the matchup.

With Coach Spoelstra’s careful strategizing and their injured star’s advice to Tyler Herro, the team delivered a stunning whiplash to a team that set the NBA record for offensive efficiency this season. The Cs and their shooting are nearly impossible to contain. And that’s exactly where the Heat coach decided to strike.

For every Boston shooter, there was always a Miami defender in close proximity, ready to strike. Take, for example, Kristaps Porziņģis. The Heat always kept an eye on the big man. The result was Porziņģis with just six points, 1-of-9 from the field and 1-of-4 from downtown, all of this in 30 minutes of game time. And he closed the night as a minus-32 in the box. It was the worst for a Boston player since Jayson Tatum in Game 2 of the 2022 finals.

As for Herro, he put Butler’s words into action and followed his example on the court. With Terry Rozier also out, he had to be a playmaker and an impact scorer. And he did both, finishing the night with a team-high 24 points and a game-high 14 assists.

Well, we can be sure that Boston isn’t going to wait for Game 4 to get the reins back this time. But Game 3 will be on the Heat’s playground. And with the home-court advantage, what kind of damage would they do?