Jimmy Butler Says Game 4 Loss vs. Celtics Will 'Build Momentum' For Heat
The Boston Celtics avoided a sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday night, beating the Miami Heat 116-99 in Game 4.
That brought up the logical talking point that perhaps the Celtics—now heading back home for Game 5—might be able to generate some momentum and become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series.
But Jimmy Butler—who scored 29 points in a losing effort—saw the result from a different perspective.
"If anything, this will build momentum for us, knowing we need to play with a lot more energy," he told reporters. "We've gotta play like our backs are against the wall. I think all year long we've been better whenever we've had to do things our way."
Caleb Martin echoed a similar sentiment.
"It's definitely disappointing," he told reporters. "That would have been a perfect situation [to end it]. Everyone knows we typically don't get things the easy way. This is right up our alley. ... This could be good for us."
Doing things the hard way has been a theme for a Heat team that struggled with injuries and inconsistency during the regular season and had to battle through the play-in tournament to even qualify for the postseason. An easy, breezy sweep wouldn't have been characteristic of these Heat.
And going back to Boston and trying to end the series in front of the Celtics' home crowd certainly won't be easy.
"We always say the last one to get is the hardest one to get," Bam Adebayo told reporters. "I knew they would be desperate."
"We were just trying to save our season," Jayson Tatum added.
But the luxury of building a 3-0 lead in the series is that a loss or two isn't dire. The Heat will have three more opportunities to clinch a berth in the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets.
The longer this series goes, however, the more momentum will shift to Boston, no matter how Butler tries to frame it.
