BOSTON -- Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat knew that most of the basketball world had already counted them out long before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics even began on Friday night.
The Heat were mentally drained after a long, hard-fought series -- and dealing with a slew of different injuries. Tyler Herro was out with a groin strain, Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker and Max Strus were just a handful of Heat players dealing with nagging injuries, and then there was Butler -- who has been dealing with right knee soreness off and on throughout the playoffs, but has been noticeably hampered since re-injuring the knee in Game 3.