The 2018 celtics lost contender status after kyrie got hurt, he was the reason they were considered contenders
But when Giannis got hurt?
The 2018 Celtics, if anything, played BETTER in the ECF than the 2023 Celtics did. 2018 Bron had to have all-time GOAT games to beat them, while the 2023 just fukking folded four times without Jimmy even having to do that much most of the time.
2018:
Game 2: Bron lays down 42-10-12 on 16-29 shooting (5-11 from three), and the Celtics still won by 13 to go up 2-0
Game 4: Down 2-1 in a must-win game, Bron lays down 44-5-3 on 17-28 shooting (1-4 threes)
Game 6: Down 3-2 and facing elimination, Bron has 46-11-9 on 17-33 shooting (5-7 threes)
Game 7: Completes the comeback with 35-15-9 on 12-24 shooting (3-8 threes)
How are those not more impressive than Jimmy's games by a long shot? Butler hasn't had true all-time games since the 1st round. Bron had 3-4 of them in every round.
Comparing ECFs against the Celtics:
Bron in wins: 38-9-9 on 56% shooting, 12-22 threes
Butler in wins: 27-7-6 on 45% shooting, 5-13 threes
rest of 2018 Cavs: 68-35-9 on 44% shooting, 33% from 3pt
rest of 2023 Heat: 90-32-17 on 53% shooting, 50% from 3pt
If Boston was better in 2023, and Butler's supporting cast was worse, then why did Butler have to do SO much less to win games?
Claiming that Butler did more with less help against a better team make NO fukking sense. You could try to argue the first two rounds because they were so different that they're much tougher to compare, but that Bron was MUCH better than Jimmy in the ECF isn't under any doubt.
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