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The Miami Heat asked everything of Jimmy Butler, and he delivered them a Game 7

BOSTON — Before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, their team facing elimination, Miami Heat veterans P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris told teammate Jimmy Butler, "Yo, we need 50. We need 50 tonight." Butler did not say a word in response. He didn't need to. He only nodded before going about his business.

"I was like, 'Oh, yeah, he's about to play. He's locked in,' " Tucker said.

Butler scored 19 points on 32 shots in the previous two games, both losses that pushed his Heat to the brink on their way back to Boston. The 32-year-old was playing through a right knee injury that sidelined him for Game 5 of their first-round series and the second half of Game 4 in this series.