In this solo commentary, Draymond Green recaps the Celtics' Game 7 victory over the Miami Heat, critiquing Jimmy Butler's contested three‑point attempt in the final seconds and explaining why he viewed the shot as a poor decision given the clock and defensive context. He reflects on Butler's endurance, drawing parallels to LeBron James' heavy minutes in past Eastern Conference Finals, and offers respect for Butler's grit despite the loss. Green then shifts to praising Jayson Tatum's breakout performance, highlighting his 26‑10‑6 line, his inaugural Larry Bird Trophy, and his evolution into a playmaking threat comparable to Kevin Durant's early career growth. He briefly mentions the Heat's offseason roster questions (Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, PJ Tucker) and predicts their continued relevance. Finally, Green looks ahead to the NBA Finals matchup between the Celtics and the Golden State Warriors, setting the stage for upcoming analysis.
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What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. Let's get into it. Starting off, the Celtics, like I said, beat the Heat. Took one more game than I thought, but the Celtics beat the Heat in Game 7 in Miami to take it on the road. You know, we always, Call it the road show. You taking the show on the road and you going to get it done. I thought that was very impressive. Now there's been this whole notion of that I said what I said to motivate the Miami Heat for Game 7. And I've seen it, you know, I actually, it just came across my phone again. I understand. Your notion, and I'm not going to confirm or deny. I'm not doing either. That's up to you and that's up to your imagination. However, I did think the Boston Celtics were going to win. I also thought the Boston Celtics was gonna win in 6 though. So I can't sit here and act like, oh my God, I got it right. Like I thought they was done in 6. Nonetheless. Draymond Green. They did get it done. And actually, we'll save that for later. But Jason Tatum finished with 26, 10, and 6. Jimmy Butler finished with 35 and 9 rebounds. So let's talk about the Jimmy Butler shot that's been all over social media and mainstream media for the last couple days and Jimmy's response and saying, I'll take that shot again and blah, blah, blah, and so on and so forth. When I was sitting there watching that game and the people that I was watching the game with, they said, that's a bad shot. I said, I personally think that shot shouldn't have been taken. And the reason I thought that it was a bad shot was because That shot right there, like, that was it. That was like, the shot simply said, we're either winning this or we're going home. And once the shot was missed, it just felt like somebody took a little staple or a little safety pin and just poked right at the balloon and the air just left out of the building once that shot was missed. As opposed to, Jimmy Butler, who we know is absolutely amazing at getting to the rim and even better at getting to the rim and getting fouled. And so you have a backpedaling Al Horford with a ton of space, with your shooters running and filling in, and you're sitting at 35 points. You're at home. Crowds into it, if Jimmy Butler drives that basketball and scores, or if Jimmy even drives, the likelihood of you getting a foul call and you're on your home court and Jimmy's great at getting fouled is significantly higher. And so if Jimmy drives that basketball and he scores or he gets fouled and the game is tied, All of the pressure then turns to the Boston Celtics, who then has to either A, get a bucket, or B, they're going in over— well, not B, but if not, they're going into overtime. And if they go into overtime and they're on a roll, all the pressure's on the Celtics. They had a big lead, you ride that momentum. All the pressure is on the Celtics. Now, these are all takes that you've probably heard. The one that I have not heard is it was 14 seconds left on the shot clock. So even if you hit the 3, you still got to go down and get a stop or 2. So that's where I thought it was a bad shot. It's like, it wasn't if— It was a bad shot. If I hit this, we walk off and that's game. Or if I miss it, you know, we can still play the foul game. Because the momentum and the morale and everything was just gone at that point. That's why I didn't understand the shot. Now here's where you have to understand personnel and the guys that you're dealing with. I knew there was 0% chance Jimmy Butler was passing that ball. Yeah. Now this is even going a step further than what shot he decided to take. I knew Jimmy Butler wasn't passing that ball because that's not what Jimmy Butler does. Whenever Jimmy Butler is in that situation, just about every time I can remember, Jimmy Butler takes that shot. Good, bad, or indifferent, he's taking the shot. And I respect that. And you gotta live with that. Especially if you're the Miami Heat. But I can just respect the fact that, like, that's a constant. That's not something that's changing. That's not something that you have to guess about. You don't have to guess. You know, you can say, oh, Jimmy Butler shoots 23% from the, from the 3-point line. He shouldn't take that shot. The shot he normally takes is driving right with, like, the fade to lean to the right. 3. And just about every situation he's in like that, he's getting to that right side of the floor. Now you say he's coming up already on the right side of the floor, which is his comfort zone. And he took the shot. And so even a bigger deal than the shot selection, I think, was the fact that there were 14 seconds left. And it just was no guarantee that you're walking off, even if you do hit that shot. So that was more so the reason I didn't understand the shot. Now in saying that, Jimmy Butler had 49, then Jimmy Butler had 35. I don't care what anyone says, Jimmy Butler takes the shot. You take the shot, we live with it. We either go on or we go home. And that's just the way it's gonna be. So respect to Jimmy, leaving it all out there on the floor. Guy played all but 2 minutes in the final 2 games, which was very LeBron-esque. LeBron-esque. Very LeBron-esque. I remember going back, what year is it? It was the year that Kyrie, if I'm not mistaken, it was the year that Kyrie was with Boston, but he was out and they played the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals. And I think I've spoke about this before on here. And my high school coach, Coach Bruce, Coach Bruce was like, Boston winning. I'm telling you, Day, Boston winning. It's over for LeBron, da da da. And I said, Coach Bruce, I'm gonna just tell you now, LeBron is not losing these two games. He will walk the ball up the court every play unless he got a transition opportunity where he know they can get a for sure bucket. He's gonna walk the ball up the court every play. He's gonna play every minute of the game. He's gonna control the entire pace of the game. And they're gonna win game 6 and they're gonna win game 7. And he called me at halftime of game 6 and said, how did you know this? Like, well, I've only played the guy 4 times in a row. I mean, 3 times in a row in the NBA Finals that end up making 4. But I understand what he does. I understand how he does it. Now, just in understanding how he does it don't mean you can go replicate it or duplicate it. Still very, very, very tough thing to do, and there's only a very select few people who's even capable of doing it. But like I told him, I knew that was going to happen. Like, you, you look at Jimmy Butler and the type of guy that he is and type of competitor that he is, it's not shocking, especially with all the injuries. It's not shocking that Jimmy Butler played 46 minutes and then 48 minutes. Yeah. It's not shocking at all. I think LeBron was actually along this, literally maybe 46 or 44 minutes in the Game 6 and 48 in Game 7. That's impressive. That's competing, leaving it all out there no matter what, competing at the absolute highest level for the absolute highest prize that you can gain, which is an NBA championship. Being one series away from that. I get it, one game away, I get it. And so kudos to Jimmy Butler. I take my hat off to Jimmy, guy who I have a ton of respect for, a guy who's a late first round pick, got it out the mud, has grinded to become the all— I can relate to that. Like grinded to become an all-star, was never supposed to be the guy who he's become. I get it. So I take my hat off to him and the way he carried his team. And I expect this isn't the last we see of the Miami Heat. Bam Adebayo coming back. They're going to continue to get healthy. Now obviously they have some things to address this offseason. You have the Tyler Herro possible extension or not. PJ Tucker's a possible free agent. They got some things to address, but nonetheless, the Miami Heat always does. They're never bad. And so, You just expect to see more of them. Jason Tatum wins his first Eastern Conference MVP, the Larry Bird Trophy, which is very fitting that small forward for the Boston Celtics then takes home the Larry Bird Trophy, the very first one, the inaugural Larry Bird Trophy. JT's been incredible, man, and to see him go out and get that trophy. It's absolutely amazing the way he's carried his guys at the very young age of 23 years old, if I'm not mistaken. Just, you know, just to see Jason continue to grow and continue to take those next steps. We've all seen the tools that he has in his bag, in his toolkit since coming into this league. They've been playing the Eastern Conference Finals since he stepped into the league. And to see him continue to take that next step, becoming a much better playmaker. He has 6 assists. I'm pretty sure he averaged 5 or 6 assists in that series. Such a huge step, a very KD-like step, if you will. If you remember back to Kevin, his first couple years in the league, trying to pass the ball, he was a disaster. Kevin himself will tell you that. And that he felt like, and if you watch, that the next step in his game was becoming a better playmaker, which he absolutely did. You know, Kevin would now go out and get you a triple-double on a given night due to his playmaking. And he's always going to score the basketball. And we've seen Jayson Tatum, especially through these playoffs, take steps like that and becoming a better playmaker. And so gotta give credit to him. Miami threw double teams at him left and right. They threw hits, they blitzed, pick and rolls. They trapped him soon as he crossed half court. They did everything. And for him to still come out and have the impact on the Boston Celtics' 100-96 win over the Heat to go to the NBA Finals, it really says a lot about him and his process and progression into his, in his career and just really becoming that force that everyone has thought he could become. I mean, even at Duke, you kind of knew like this dude, like he's special and, and he's really grown into that. And you have to give him a lot of credit. Guy works his tail off. You have to give a lot of credit to E-man, the coaching staff for requiring something different that wasn't necessarily required of him before. And that is the mark of a great coach. So Lot of credit to Ime, lot of credit to JT, but enough of that shit. Let's turn our focus to the NBA Finals with, as you know, like I've said before, the Celtics and the Golden State Warriors. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
