Former Philadelphia 76ers man Jimmy Butler was the thorn in his old team's side as he led the Miami Heat to the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-2 series win.
The 32-year-old spent one season with the Philadelphia outfit in 2018-19, but there was no love lost in game six of their Conference semi-final at Wells Fargo Center.
Butler led the way with 32 points as the Heat secured a series-clinching 99-90 victory, with 14 of those tallied in the third quarter, and the Houston-born small forward believes that he "belongs" in Miami.
"Now I'm where I belong. I guess where I should have been a long time ago, a place where I'm welcome," Butler told reporters, as quoted by ESPN.
"I love being here in Miami. I love the group of guys that we have and I'm not changing anything that happened. I'm here for a reason, and we're going to ride this wave and take it back to the 305. Get ready for the next round and work our way towards this championship."
"I think the confidence my teammates and my coaches put in me, it's a lot. They really be hyping me up out there and I just go play. I try everything in my power to make sure that we win. ... They just trust me with everything."
Jimmy Butler in some elite company during these playoffs 👀 pic.twitter.com/a6Z81EHEEC
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 12, 2022
The return of Joel Embiid from an orbital fracture gave the 76ers a glimmer of hope, with the five-time All Star athlete returning to help level the series at 2-2 after being absent for his side's first two defeats.
Embiid tallied 20 points in game six alongside Tyrese Maxey, but it was a fruitless endeavour as the Heat set up an Eastern Conference finals showdown with either the Milwaukee Bucks or the Boston Celtics, with the Bucks holding a 3-2 lead.
The Bucks and the Heat would meet for a third consecutive time in the playoffs should the reigning champions advance, and coach Erik Spoelstra did not hold back in his praise for "ultimate competitor" Butler after the game six victory.
"Jimmy is a great competitor. I think he's one of the ultimate competitors in this profession. So I think a lot of things get lost in translation. As this league sometimes gets younger I think it ends up being about some things that are not about winning," Spoelstra added.
"He competes on both ends. He is an extremely efficient offensive player. And when his only focus is just about driving a team to win, all the other things are just irrelevant -- that a lot of players and teams get caught up in. He's not caught up in that stuff. It's just about doing whatever it takes to win the game."
Meanwhile, a 33-point haul from Luka Doncic helped the Dallas Mavericks to a 113-86 victory over the Phoenix Suns to level the series at 3-3, with the deciding seventh game commencing on Sunday.
Ben Knapton
