BOSTON — Jimmy Butler almost got the Celtics last year. If his would-be go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in Game 7 of the 2022 Eastern Conference finals had gone in, it might have been the Heat tangling with the Warriors in the Finals.

Butler didn’t wait that long to take the Celtics apart in Game 1 of the 2023 conference finals. Butler had 35 points, seven assists and six steals and was the best player on the floor in the second half. He scored 20 points after intermission as Miami turned a 12-point deficit into a 12-point lead en route to winning Game 1.

“As one of the premier, if not the premier, two-way basketball players in this association, that’s what we needed,” Erik Spoelstra said. “We needed him to make some plays defensively. We needed him to also just be ball containment defensively. On the ball, off the ball, all that stuff. Settled us offensively. That’s a big part of us not turning the ball over, is just having a place where you can throw the ball and get a bit more settled.

“Down the stretch, Jimmy was able to just do everything we needed as a scorer or as a facilitator,” Spoelstra added. “He’s willing to do both.”

Kyle Lowery said the Heat have been spurred by it.

“I think it’s great to be part of this run he’s been on since, I don’t know how long it’s been now. But that’s what he does. He’s one of the best players in the world for a reason,” he said. “It’s just a joy to watch it. For a guy that wants it so bad and works so hard at his craft, it’s important to enjoy his success. He gives us all the confidence to be successful and be aggressive and be assertive. That’s what makes him special, that it’s not all about him. He’s about our group and our team and everyone else.”

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Lowery hadn’t heard Butler’s postgame comments, but Butler’s words perfectly backed up his teammate’s point.

“I‘m playing at an incredible level because they are allowing me to do so. They are not putting a limit on my game,” he said. “They are trusting me with the ball, on the defensive end. I think that’s what any basketball player wants. That’s what anybody wants out of life is just to be wanted, be appreciated and just let you go out there and rock.”