Butler guarding Thomas reminded Wade of LeBron covering Rose
Having spent four years together as LeBron James' teammate, Dwyane Wade knows an elite two-way player when he sees one.
After watching Jimmy Butler spend much of Sunday's Game 1 victory covering Isaiah Thomas, Wade was quickly reminded of his old running mate - who played a similar role for the Heat earlier this decade.
"I had the luxury of playing with a guy named LeBron." Wade told ESPN's Nick Friedell. "And we did the same thing when we played - to Derrick Rose. You have a point guard who guards him but when you need a guy who's longer, who's just as fast, and all those things, it helps. It gives them a different look, it kind of throws off things."
While Thomas still managed to score 33 points in Game 1, the 5-foot-9 guard was forced to take a number of tough shots thanks to Butler's tenacious on-ball defense, which negatively affected the flow of the Boston Celtics' offense.
"You're not going to slow down Isaiah Thomas from getting the looks and getting opportunities," Wade added. "The guy can score as good as anybody in this game. But just to give them a different look, if you get their offense out a little further, if it takes a little bit more time off the clock, all those things help. It's good to be able to have a guy like that to say, 'Get us 30, and then go guard the guy that's got 30.'"
The Bulls will look to slow down Thomas and the Celtics on Tuesday night in hopes of taking a 2-0 series lead.