‘They were punking us’: Grant Williams explains why he confronted Jimmy Butler
"That's kind of like what we were missing in that series. They were punking us the entire time."
Grant Williams is “too nerdy” to be much of a trash talker, he said during a recent episode of Tidal League’s Run Your Race podcast.
But, at the same time, there are some things that he feels that he can’t let slide.
The trash talk that Jimmy Butler unleashed during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals was one of them.
Williams said Butler started talking trash with 6:37 remaining in the game, after Williams hit a 3-pointer to put the Celtics up by 9.
“We’re playing that game, I think we’re up by like eight,” Williams told Theo Pinson during the episode. “I’m playing well. Jimmy says like ‘hell no’, he ain’t here. So I made a three and I said hell no mother(expletive), I’m here. I said that to him, barking, you know because I’m not going to let him (do that). I’m always going to respond.”
Williams and Butler pressed their foreheads against each other and began jawing after Butler continued the trash-talking when he hit a layup and got fouled with 6:22 remaining in the game.
“The next play, Jimmy (hesitation), boom boom, stop, pivot, and-one. And he said, ‘I’m here, too, mother(expletive). So, I’m like I don’t give an (expletive),” Williams said. “We were going back and forth because like me, I’m not backing down. That’s kind of like what we were missing in that series. They were punking us the entire time.”
While it’s true that Miami was more aggressive than Boston during the series, confronting Butler didn’t turn out too well for the Celtics. Miami rallied to win Game 2 before claiming Game 3 and putting the Celtics in a 3-0 hole that they were unable to dig themselves out of.
Williams admitted after the game that he “poked the bear” by dealing with Butler the way he did.
“It’s crazy that I always look back at it and I’m like, do you know I scored our last 10 points?” Williams said. “He had eight. But, the difference is [Max] Strus made a three, [Gabe] Vincent made a three, so they ended up winning the game. If that doesn’t happen and we win the game no one brings that up, no one says poke the bear and stuff like that.”
The Celtics tied the series and forced a decisive Game 7 at TD Garden, but Miami got the last laugh by beating the Celtics at home to earn a trip to the NBA Finals.
“Jimmy knows it’s all love because we’re just competitors naturally, so afterwards he even said respect and stuff like that because he’s a competitor, I just do that to get myself going,” Williams said. “I was like, I respect it too. Everybody has their own thing. But, we ended up losing that series and it sucks because if you make it to the Finals, who knows what happens? But, the world works in mysterious ways.”
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