Is Playoff Jimmy a real thing? Some of Jimmy Butler’s former Heat teammates believe so

Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler continues to insist that Playoff Jimmy isn’t real, but former teammates say otherwise.

Markieff Morris, who was on the Heat’s roster with Butler last season, is the latest to come out and say Playoff Jimmy exists.

“Playoff Jimmy, he’s locked in,” Morris said during an appearance on a YouTube series named “Run Your Race.” “You got guys that turn into different people in the playoffs. Him and [LeBron James] stand out the most to me. It’s different.”

Earlier this postseason, Butler’s former Heat teammate Goran Dragic spoke to the Miami Herald about Butler’s playoff greatness. Dragic was on the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks’ roster that the eighth-seeded Heat upset in the first round of the playoffs.

“You can’t stop him,” Dragic said of Butler. “He might have a bad shooting night, but still produce at a high level. So I’ve played with him, I’ve seen it in person. Now I’m seeing it from a different angle.”

Entering Game 6 of the Heat’s second-round playoff series against the New York Knicks on Friday night at Kaseya Center, Butler is averaging 31.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 55.1 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from three-point range in nine games during this year’s playoffs.

Butler, 33, averaged 22.9 points per game on a career-best 53.9 percent shooting from the field this regular season. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time in his career this season.

“Jimmy is so unselfish,” Morris added. “He hates the stamp of being one of those ‘superstar’ guys because he’s so much of a team player that when you put that stamp on guys, and [say] like, ‘Yo, he’s a superstar it’s his fault. He’s gotta take that last shot,’ He doesn’t play the game that way. So, his whole thing is like, ‘Don’t put that on me. I’m gonna play to win. I’m just a tough player.’”

Butler missed Game 2 of the second round with a sprained right ankle sustained in the series opener, but he has played through the lingering effects of the injury since returning in Game 3.

Butler, who is in his fourth season with the Heat, began his NBA career in 2011 with the Chicago Bulls before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2017 offseason. He was then dealt to the Philadelphia 76ers early in the 2018-19 season prior to joining Miami as a free agent in the 2019 offseason.

“Guys say he’s a coach killer,” Morris said. “He’s not, man. He comes to practice every day and go home. Same [stuff] every day. He doesn’t want to start no trouble. He just wants to see his daughter and drink coffee.”

Morris also praised the Heat’s development program. Miami’s playoff roster this season features seven undrafted players, which is the most among the teams that qualified for this year’s playoffs.

“It’s plug and play,” Morris said. “They do a great job with their younger players, man. Working those guys to the point where they’re locked in and you’re never going to miss a beat. A guy might not be as skilled, but he’s always going to be in the right place at the right time doing all the right [stuff] all the time.”

Morris had a front-row seat to it all as a member of the Heat last season, when Miami’s deep playoff run ended just one win from advancing to the NBA Finals.

“[Heat coach Erik] Spoelstra is a real wizard when it comes to his game planning,” Morris said.

IN THE ZONE

After not using zone in the first half of Game 5, the Heat sprinkled in eight defensive possessions of zone during it’s second-half comeback that ultimately fell short on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.

“It’s just a different look,” Heat forward Max Strus said of the zone. “It changes up the pace of the game, gets them into stuff they don’t want to do maybe. I just thought the guys that were doing it did a great job of executing what we want to do and making them take shots that we wanted them to take.”

The Heat used 62 possessions of zone in Game 2 of the series, which Butler missed because of his sprained ankle. Miami did not use zone in Games 3 and 4 before pulling it out late in Game 5.

INJURY REPORT

The only Heat players ruled out for Game 6 on Friday are Tyler Herro (broken right hand) and Victor Oladipo (torn patellar tendon).

The only rotation player on the Knicks’ injury report is guard Immanuel Quickley, who will not play in Game 6 because of a sprained left ankle. Quickley also missed Games 4 and 5 because of the injury.