Getty Max Strus reacts during a 2023 NBA play-in tournament game between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls.
It’s incredible to think that, just a handful of weeks ago, the Chicago Bulls nearly blocked the Miami Heat from advancing to the playoffs. On Thursday night, that same Heat team will go toe-to-toe with Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals.
And while the Bulls were forced to take an early summer vacation, fans can find solace in the fact the former Windy City hero Jimmy Butler is getting another opportunity to capture that elusive championship ring. They can also cheer for Hickory Hills product Max Strus, who’s joining Butler and the rest of the South Beach crew in the title push.
For his part, Strus is overjoyed to be sharing in Butler’s championship quest.
“When I was a kid growing up in Chicago, him and Derrick Rose were my favorite players to watch,” Strus said recently on NBC Sports Chicago’s Football Night in Chicago. “To be able to be on his team and share this journey of his career has been nothing short of astonishing. Just so happy to be here and so happy to help him.”
Max Strus Is Confident in Ex-Bull Jimmy Butler’s Ability to Keept It Rolling
Although his shot has faltered at times during his last several playoff appearances, Butler’s overall performance during the postseason has been top notch. Entering Game 1 of the Finals, the six-time All-Star was averaging 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game with 48-36-81 shooting splits.
As Strus sees it, Butler’s success is well-earned, and the fourth-year wing expects to see more of the same as the Heat compete for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“Honestly, he deserves it,” Strus said of Butler. “He deserves to be here and he deserves everybody shining a light his way. He’s a special player in this league. He’s carried us to this point and will continue to do that.”
Strus, meanwhile, has had a relatively productive playoff run, too. Coming into the Finals, he was averaging 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest with 45-36-81 shooting splits.
B/R’s Eric Pincus Picks Heat to Win the Title
The fact that the Heat have even made it to this point feels like fantasy; the team entered the playoffs as an eighth seed and has been hit with multiple key injuries over the course of its playoff run. Consequently, the smart money says that the club’s luck is about to run out.
There are some people, though, who believe Butler and his cohorts have a little bit of magic left in them.
In Bleacher Report‘s Finals predictions feature, nearly all of the outlet’s hoops scribes picked the Nuggets to emerge as the victors in the best-of-seven series. Eric Pincus, however, offered a dissenting opinion, picking Miami to shock the world one more time:
Miami should be tired, fresh off a Game 7, but the Nuggets are at a disadvantage with a long layoff since the Western Conference Finals.
Look for Miami to get Game 1 and put Denver on its heels early in the series. That’s not to suggest the Nuggets will go down easily; this will be a dogfight. The team’s starting five is fantastic, but Jimmy Butler has willed his team this far.
Picking against Miami has been a losing effort all postseason.
Heat in six.
