NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS. HEAT

September 22, 2020

Jimmy Butler

Miami Heat

Practice Day

Q. How necessary is like a steam-blowing-off session like the soccer skills competition that you guys have after practice quite a bit?

JIMMY BUTLER: I think we keep it consistent. Me, G [Goran Dragic], Meyers [Leonard], [Chris] Silva, a lot of the guys kick around a basketball or a soccer ball that we have upstairs. Yeah, we've got a job to do here but still have fun, still enjoy being around one another.

Q. To get back to this series, you've had three days to think about stuff. I won't ask you for game plan, but what do you have to change and what do you think this team has to change?

JIMMY BUTLER: I think we've just got to start off better. I don't think we started off anywhere near where we're capable of. I think we dig ourselves a hole and try to fight back out of it. I think going into this next one, it's up to the starting five to come out with a great start.

Q. Jimmy, obviously your approach has worked. The team is 10-2 in the Playoffs. You're playing well. I know also you pay no attention to what others say. That said, I wanted to ask you, guys like Tim Legler who say you need to be more aggressive looking for your shot early in games, do you think there's any merit to that? Or do you think you are approaching this exactly the way this team needs it?

JIMMY BUTLER: It's like I always say: As long as we win, there's no problem with anything. I've just got to make sure however we're playing as a group, we've just got to pull out W's in the end. No matter how many shots I take, no matter how many points I score, our job is to win as a whole, as a group. So I don't know what that will take, but we as a unit have to make sure that we win these games.

Q. Following up on the start, getting off to a better start, is that more of a mindset thing or is that more of an X's and O's thing?

JIMMY BUTLER: A little bit of both, to tell you the truth. We have to know where everybody is going to go on the floor for us. When you play a team as many times as you play somebody in a seven-game series, you know what they're going to run. The majority of times you know what set they're going to be in. We just have to be in the right spot. Got to make sure that we get back on defense, don't turn the ball over, stuff like that. As much as it's X's and O's, it's on us as well.

Q. In the Playoffs, we typically see opposing teams -- the players will be very respectful in between games and after games and that's all great, but during the competition it can get heated and even physical. I'm curious what level of heated competition goes on do you think between the coaches? Whether it's the coach, Erik Spoelstra, you're with now or coaches in your past, is their anger ever directed toward the other coach either in the locker room or during a game? I know they all respect each other, but I'm just wondering how hot it gets.

JIMMY BUTLER: I mean, I guess you could say there's some dislike in between coaches and coaches and players and players. Obviously what happens in the locker room, we try to keep that there. But it's just competition. Nobody wants to lose. The coaches don't want to lose. The strength and conditioning coaches don't want to lose. And that's the way that you like it. There's no friends in between those lines. Save that for after the game. But everybody just wants to win. Everybody cares. So I'm not going to say that there's going to be too many friendships whenever it comes to going to battle in these games.

Q. I want to ask about Duncan Robinson. What impresses you most about him and why does he fit so well with your team?

JIMMY BUTLER: He keeps coming back to work. No matter if he has an off game, a really great game, a mediocre one, he's always in here trying to get better, trying to learn and trying to make sure we can win the next one. I think that's what you respect about him. He's thirsty for knowledge and he wants to just help us win a championship. When you have a guy like that in your corner, all you can do is continue to praise him, continue to love him and continue to be grateful that he's on your team.

Q. I think going into the series the bench for you guys has been one of the greatest strengths moving forward. A lot of people saw that as being a definite advantage over Boston just as it has all season, but it hasn't quite paid off that way. Have you seen anything that Boston's bench or rotations has done to limit the impact of some of the guys like Kelly Olynyk and others?

JIMMY BUTLER: Not really. A lot of it stems from the starting five, though. When we start off flat, it kind of trickles down the line. It doesn't get the bench in a groove that they are comfortable playing with, because they see us being lazy on both ends of the floor. They kind of follow our suit. It's not on them. That's on us as the starting five to play better as a whole and start this game off the way that we can and the way we're supposed to so they can come in and hoop.

Q. Under the circumstances, do you believe that Game 4 is the most important game of the whole series? And also you allowed 117 points in Game 3. The intensity on the defensive end is going to be the key factor for your game tomorrow?

JIMMY BUTLER: Yeah, it's always going to be defense for us. I think we have to lock in on our part, limit our turnovers, get back, rebound the basketball, all of those things.

Every game is important, though. You're not going to just put it at one game, but this is the most important one thus far because it's our next one. So we get this one and then we take it from there. But we're not going to look back, we're not going to look forward. We're going to lock in on today, and whenever this is done, we're going to lock in for our game tomorrow.

Q. You have played in the Playoffs before but not in the bubble, obviously. What is the difference in playing a playoff series in the bubble?

JIMMY BUTLER: To me, I mean, besides the fans and family not being here, there is no difference. It's competing. You're still expected to win no matter where you're at. This championship is still going to count like every other one. Like everything is the same. We go about it the same way, we practice, we meet, we go over the other team's plays, the scouts, just like we would be if everything as normal. At the end of the day, it's still the first one to 16 wins.