2) Opponents Jimmy Butler has dominated: Giannis Antetokounmpo
The most significant reason why Butler and the Heat upsetting the Bucks in the second round of the playoffs in the East this year was the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s season was going to be over before many anticipated he would be able to take off. But injury once again hampered Giannis before he could really get going.
Nonetheless, Butler’s Heat squad definitely played a role in the Bucks seeing their season end so early at the bubble in Disney World this year.
In the regular season, Giannis and Jimmy met on 19 different occasions. Those 19 regular season meetings fell mostly in Butler’s favor by a record of 12-7. In the playoffs, Butler holds the edge over Giannis, with a record of 7-3 in 10 tries. Butler and Giannis faced each other in two different playoff series. All of those went in Butler’s favor. And one of them came with the Bulls.
In those 17 regular season meetings between these two, Butler averaged 18.9 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.5 blocks. He shot 44.6 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 81.7 percent from the free-throw line. In the playoffs, Butler averaged 24.9 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.3 steals, and 0.6 blocks.
Meanwhile, Giannis averaged the exact same number of points per game as Butler (in the games against him), 8.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks. In the playoffs, Giannis averaged 15.6 points per game, 8.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks.
Giannis just did get his second MVP award in a row. But that didn’t come in the most positive light in the midst of his lower-body injury and his team getting ousted in the second round by Butler and the Heat.