Miami is not a butler one-man team.안전놀이터
The Miami Heat won 123-116 in a game against the Boston Celtics in the 2023 NBA Playoffs Eastern Conference Finals held at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, USA on the 18th (Korean time). Miami happily took the lead in the important first game.
Miami has done another miracle. Miami caused an upset by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and the New York Knicks in the second round, and won the Boston expedition, which was considered an absolute powerhouse. It can be said that it is a great result.
At the center, of course, the presence of ace Jimmy Butler is overwhelming. Butler, who has been performing at his best throughout the 2023 NBA playoffs, led the team with 35 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds in the first game against Boston that day, and won the ace match against Jayson Tatum.
However, no matter how good Butler is, if there are no team members who support him, the team’s victory is impossible. Butler’s best assistant is the undrafted three.
Undrafted refers to players who tried for the NBA draft but were not selected by the team. Lee Hyeon-joong of Korean nationality falls under this category. Miami has long been known for making good use of undrafted players. Right now, the team’s legend, Judonis Haslem, is a prime example. Recently, there is Duncan Robinson.
In this playoff, the performance of the undraftees from Miami is outstanding. The protagonists are Gabe Vincent, Max Struss, and Caleb Martin.
First of all, Vincent is a guard with excellent 3-point shooting and defense. Although he is 190 cm tall, he plays a defense that actively presses the opposing guard with his aggressiveness and fighting spirit. He’s loaded with 3-point shooting ability here. He is averaging 35.4% 3-point shooting percentage in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
Struss is a typical shooter resource. Struss is filling the void left by Tyler Hiro through injury. In this playoff, he recorded a high-sensitivity 3-point success rate of 38.6%, and the defense is also compliant.
Caleb Martin is a forward who is good at defending and breaking through. He’s here, he’s got the 3-point shooting ability. Martin is primarily responsible for defending the opposing team’s ace forward. He’s a huge addition to Miami’s forward line that missed PJ Tucker before the season.
In this way, the three players scored 15 points each in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston. Butler’s performance was also great, but the performance of the three undrafted players on both sides of the offense and defense also shone.
Butler also praised his teammates in a postgame interview, saying, “They’re fighting beasts.”
Miami’s story in this playoffs is shocking NBA fans. This is why I am in awe of coach Eric Spoelstra, who built and utilized a roster of undrafted players rather than super-promising prospects.