Over the course of this past week, there were some awe-inspiring individual performances across the league.
However, one man stood above them all.
Jimmy Butler has been named the NBA's Eastern Conference Player of the Week. In doing so, it marks the 58th time in franchise history a HEAT player has earned the honor.
Butler led the HEAT to a 3-1 record for the week, helping Miami extend their perfect record at home to 10-0, after averaging 27.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.25 steals while shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range. He posted two triple-doubles during the week and led the team in assists in all four contests, in points three times, in minutes and blocks on two occasions and in rebounds and steals once each. He scored at least 20 points in all four contests, including a 30-point performance.
Butler led off the week with a 22-point, 13-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in a, 121-110, overtime win at Toronto on December 3, recording the Raptors first home loss this season. Butler tied the game with 38.4 seconds left to force overtime and then scored the first eight points in the extra quarter to help secure the victory. Then on the second night of a back-to-back set on the road, he scored a season-high 37 points while posting six rebounds, four assists and two steals at Boston on December 4. On December 6 vs. Washington, he posted his second triple-double of the week, this time a 28-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist effort in a, 112-103, win. Butler capped off the week scoring 23 points vs. Chicago last night while dishing out a team-high seven assists, grabbing six rebounds and recording a steal and a block in a, 110-105, victory, continuing his current streak of recording at least one steal to 14 consecutive games.