Jimmy Butler all but guarantees Miami Heat will win NBA Finals

The Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets are tied 1-1 in the 2023 NBA Finals.

The biggest surprise of the series so far might be Heat center Bam Adebayo.

He went for 26 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in Game 1, keeping Miami in a game that Denver would’ve otherwise completely run away with. And in Game 2 he followed that up with 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks, a 111-108 Miami win to tie the series up 1-1.

It was the first time the Nuggets had lost at Ball Arena in the playoffs, snapping their perfect 9-0 record at home. The Heat, having already pulled upsets on Milwaukee and Boston, have to be feeling good as the series shifts back to South Beach.

But just how good? Well, at media availability on Tuesday, star Jimmy Butler did something a little wild. He all but guaranteed Miami would win a championship. And his biggest reason why was Adebayo.

“He’s gonna be the reason why we win the championship.” @JimmyButler on Bam Adebayo pic.twitter.com/8G4Uapytud

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 6, 2023

The whole video is worth watching, but obviously the end is the juiciest part. Butler can heap all the praise he wants on Adebayo, but saying he’s going to be the reason they win a championship is interesting.

It implies Butler thinks (and is willing to say out loud) the Heat are going to take this series. That could be some bulletin board material for Denver.

Miami is confident (borderline cocky) and that’s fine. It’s worked for them thus far. But the Nuggets still have Nikola Jokic, and he’s had two huge games. Adebayo’s been good on offense, but it’s not like Jokic had any trouble posting a triple-double in Game 1 or 41 points in Game 2.

A massive Game 3 in Miami is set to go down in just about eight hours. We’ll have a much better idea after that one if Butler is on to something, or if he went too far.

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