Philadelphia 76ers managed to get an important win on the road in Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against Toronto Raptors on Monday night and tied the series 1-1. The 76ers were led by Jimmy Butler, who had an impressive performance contributing with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists. This Butler’s excellence ended up being recognized after the game by Philly’s head coach Brett Brown.
Brown said that Butler adopted his grown-up alter ego James and called him “adult in the gym” and “a stud.”
“This was James Butler,” – said Brown. “That was the adult in the gym. … He was just a tremendous sort of rock. He willed us to a lot of different situations. … He was a stud. He really was an adult in the gym.”
After reminding everyone that his real name is Jimmy and not James at the post-game conference, Butler didn’t want to take the credit for the win, saying that it was “a team effort.”
“It was a team effort,” – said Butler. “I always go back to defense. We get stops, and we’re taking off into the open floor. Guys are making plays, like Jo [Embiid] and Ben [Simmons]. … Whenever we’re playing like that, guarding like that, we’re such a good team.”
There is some truth in Jimmy Butler’s words, as the 76ers played great defense and managed to hold the Raptors on 36.3 percent shooting and freeze them at just 89 points, their lowest scoring games since December. Still, Butler took the majority of the scoring load, since none of the Philadelphia’s starters managed to score more than 12 points, and deserves a significant part of the credit for the win.
The 76ers and the Raptors will meet again on Thursday night when the series moves to Philadelphia for Game 3.
