Grant Williams made a Dillon Brooks-sized mistake by getting in Jimmy Butler’s face and sparking a Heat victory over the Celtics in Game 2.
Just call 2023 the year of the trash talk backfire.
You’d think NBA players in particular would have taken notice after Dillon Brooks poked the bear and met the claws as the Lakers took down the Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.
Brooks got meme-ified and unceremoniously dumped by Memphis after that series. And now he has company in the clown show.
In Game 2 between the Heat and Celtics, Boston’s Grant Williams thought it would be a good idea to get in the face of Jimmy Butler, literally. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t.
The Heat went on a 26-9 run to end the game after Grant Williams chirped Jimmy Butler 😬 pic.twitter.com/GiDUvZZeLI
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) May 20, 2023
Butler is already renown for taking his game to the next level in the postseason. Giving him any added juice was a Brooks level of stupid. The Celtics paid for it.
The Heat scored 36 points in the fourth quarter to pull ahead of Boston for a 111-105 victory. They now have a 2-0 lead in the series and they haven’t even taken the floor in Miami yet.
NBA Twitter laid into Williams for his snafu.
NBA Twitter gave Grant Williams the Dillon Brooks treatment
Score when the Grant Williams-Jimmy Butler play started: Celtics 96, Heat 87.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) May 20, 2023
Score the rest of the way: Heat 24, Celtics 9.
Grant Williams poked the bear.. pic.twitter.com/KYLrvf7B6e
— OddsStack (@OddsStack) May 20, 2023
Jimmy Butler after Grant Williams tried to headbutt him pic.twitter.com/oxuh0udNWw
— Barstool Sportsbook (@BSSportsbook) May 20, 2023
“I poke bears.” - Grant Williams pic.twitter.com/EVg7u8ynzO
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) May 20, 2023
Grant Williams in the Celtics locker room
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) May 20, 2023
https://t.co/N5x7U2M2sS
Jayson Tatum when he sees Grant Williams in the locker room after the game pic.twitter.com/Uuup9Euq9b
— ryan 🤿 (@scubaryan_) May 20, 2023
Mazzulla looking at Grant Williams in the locker room. pic.twitter.com/q4G09CZM5a
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 20, 2023
grant williams trying to talk shit to jimmy to inspire the celtics pic.twitter.com/D2pqVsjN44
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) May 20, 2023
The Heat shot 6-for-7 with Grant Williams as the primary defender in the 4th quarter, including 4-for-5 from Jimmy Butler per ESPN tracking.
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) May 20, 2023
Bro Jimmy Butler’s face when Grant Williams said whatever the f he said killed me. I lost it laughing. Jimmy knew. Boston knew. Bill Simmons knew. Mike Schur knew. Series was over lmfao
— ParakHEAT Cortes (@Ryan_Cortes) May 20, 2023
Butler finished the game with 27 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. Nine of his points came in the final six minutes of the game. That matched the output of all the Celtics combined.
Bam Adebayo dropped 22 points with 16 rebounds and nine assists on the night. Caleb Martin came off the bench to score 25 on 11-of-16 shooting.
Now Boston is in trouble. Despite Jayson Tatum’s 34 points, they dropped a critical home game and are in an 0-2 hole heading to Miami. A big part of that was Tatum’s own fourth quarter output. For the second straight game, he failed to hit a field goal in the fourth quarter. That’s just not going to get it done.
Game 3 is on Sunday. We’ll see if Williams makes the trip or if the Celtics leave him behind after this one.