Josh Hart shares perfect metaphor for Jimmy Butler’s regular season and playoff splits

When the stakes get raised, and the brights are lightest, so is the intensity and will to win for Miami Heat star wing Jimmy Butler, also known as “Playoff Jimmy," or even less formally, "Himmy Butler".

It’s no secret that Butler and the Heat coast their way through the regular season, somehow finding a way to suddenly flip the switch when it becomes time to put up or shut up – the six-time All-Star spoke in depth about his approach with Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

The New York Knicks are no stranger to seeing what Butler is capable of when he embraces the moniker he has rightfully earned, as evidenced by the conference semifinal matchup between the two teams last season and their recent meeting at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday. 

Knicks wing Josh Hart summed it up perfectly with a hilarious but true metaphor when speaking with reporters before the game.

Josh Hart perfectly encapsulates ‘Playoff Jimmy’ with a funny metaphor

“Jimmy [Butler] kind of does side quests during the year until about April. Then he starts locking in,” Hart told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “I’m sure people are going to see that maniac competitive side now that he’s done with the side quests and he’s on to the main quest,” he added.

However, Hart may have spoken too soon.

Whatever Butler is doing parading through the streets of Miami on a horse in broad daylight, he handled his business against Hart and the Knicks on Tuesday, leading the Heat to a much-needed 109-99 victory that brought them to within half a game of the Indiana Pacers for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff spot in the East. 

But it’s not like seed matters for Miami, who has entered the playoffs higher than the fifth seed only once during Butler’s five-year stint with the team and is on pace to do so yet again in 2023-24 (assuming they climb their way out of NBA Play-In Tournament status and into the postseason picture when the smoke clears) but have three Eastern Conference Finals and two championship appearances to show for it.

Butler has been exceptionally dominant for the Heat during their last two postseason runs, averaging 27.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.9 stills with .484/.349/.821 shooting splits in 38.5 minutes per game, doing whatever it takes to win.

While the regular-season splits for Butler have typically been stellar, it’s evident he takes his game to new heights in the playoffs. In five years with the Heat, he has put up 21.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per contest while shooting a lowly 29.8 percent from beyond the arc. Not to say that those are pedestrian numbers, but they notably differ from his playoff splits.