Offensive Juggernaut
The meetings between Minnesota and Oklahoma City were both entertaining and heart wrenching for Thunder fans. Not only were three of the four encounters decided by four points or less, the Timberwolves took three games on the back of All Star play from Jimmy Butler. He averaged 22 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.8 steals on 52.2 percent shooting, 33.3 percent from three and 92.1 percent from the free throw line.
In game 2 of the regular season series, Butler lead Minnesota to a 119-116 over Oklahoma City posting 25 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds in 38 minutes. More impressively, the All Star shot 70 percent from the field including a clutch bucket to seal the deal.
It important to note that Andre Roberson played in two of the four games and played just 10 minutes in the loss above before succumbing to injury. When Dre went down, Butler shredded the defense and did what he wanted. While Butler is widely renowned as a premier defender, he is an underrated offensive threat and posted a 14th best 3.61 offensive real plus-minus.
With the 29 year-old heading out the door, the Thunder no longer need to account for a proven two- way commodity whose shown to be clutch in NBA’s big moments.