Butler "The Killer" was compared to Wade, and Chris Paul's curse continued

Spolstra after the Miami star's climax: "In the moment of truth, he will find a way to eliminate you."

The Phoenix coach calmed down after a morning injury, the quarterback again lost with a poster

Walla!

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20/04/2022

Wednesday, April 20, 2022, 12:00 p.m.

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Boston celebrates victory over Brooklyn in Game 1 (Celtics Official Twitter)

The moment Phoenix feared came early in the morning (Wednesday).

And this is not a 124: 115 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, because it is clear that in a 1: 1 situation the series is still fully open, except for the injury of Devin Booker.

Precisely after a crazy first half in which he shot seven threes and scored 31 points, the Guard Suns abandoned the second game in the series during the third quarter due to a hamstring strain, and it is unclear if he will be fit for the next two away games in the series - including the playoffs.

If there’s one thing Phoenix can take comfort in, it’s the fact that when Chris Paul was absent for an extended period during the regular season, the team continued to win as usual thanks to Boker’s conversion to the role of ball carrier.

This is the mentality coach Monty Williams displayed when asked about the injury: "Tomorrow we will be smarter. We have played without Chris and 'Bock' in the past. If we have to play without 'Bock', next in line will fill his place. We did it all season."

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Will they manage without him?

Morning (Photo: GettyImages, Christian Petersen)

Maybe one thing should worry Chris Paul more than Boker's absence, and that's the possibility that referee Scott Foster will be included in the Suns games later.

The veteran quarterback, who scored 17 points tonight, recorded his fourth career playoff game with 14 assists or more and zero losses, with in the last 20 seasons only Rajon Rondo doing so apart from him (only once), but nevertheless Paul suffered his loss. -14 in a row in the playoffs in a game where Foster refereed.

As might be expected, the memes on the networks were not long in coming.

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On the New Orleans side, Larry Nance took advantage of the victory to send a message to those who did not count the Pelicans: "Everyone said it would end in a sweep, except for the one who really matters. We do not care at all what one commentator or expert says, we believe. New Orleans believes. ".

Brandon Ingram, who recorded 37 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and became the third player in Pelicans history with 35 points and at least 10 rebounds in a playoff game, said after the game: "Throughout the year I believed we would be here. I did not know what it would look like, but we kept getting better. "Everything flowed, everyone was effective. The whole quintet carried it out on both sides."

Eliminate Atlanta.

Butler and Miami 0-2 (Photo: GettyImages, Michael Reaves)

In Miami, Jimmy Butler was the most powerful zone we've seen in his career, one that the Heat's shooting guard only entered in the 2020 Finals Series, and after raining 45 points on the Atlanta Hawks' head tonight, "Jimmy Bucks" became the second ever to score a quantity Such in a game where he does not lose balls and does not commit offenses.

The first was Dominic Wilkins.

"I'm a different player than I was then," said Butler, who scored 40 or more points in the playoffs for the third time in his career. "I just want to play basketball the right way and do what it takes to help the team win. That's why they brought me here."

Butler joined LeBron James (7) and Dwayne Wade (3) from Miami players who scored 40 or more in a playoff game, and Eric Spolstra, who coached all three, compared him to Wade for his jump in the threes percentage tonight compared to the regular season, in which he was only 23.3% accurate: "It's a good comparison, because in the moment of truth, if you're the opponent, would you want to leave Wade alone for a three? The answer is no, because he's a killer. He'll take advantage of the moment. Jimmy has a lot of features like that "It's trash when victory is on the floor. It will find a way to eliminate you."

• sport

• NBA

Tags

• Miami Heat

• Phoenix Suns

• New Orleans Pelicans

• Jimmy Butler

• Chris Paul

• Devin Booker