Playoff Jimmy arrived early for the Golden State Warriors in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday night, with the 6x All-Star leading his new team to the seventh-seed in a 121-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at Chase Center.

Butler was everywhere particularly through the first three-quarters, helping himself to 34 points and eventually finishing with 38 on 12-of-20 shooting to go with seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in 40 minutes of playing time.

After having a high of 28 points in his first 29 games with the Warriors, Butler has stepped things up dramatically over the last two games. The veteran forward had a then Warrior career-high 30 points in Sunday’s regular season finale against the L.A. Clippers, and would have eclipsed that by even more on Tuesday had he not missed six free-throws.

Udonis Haslem’s statement on Jimmy Butler should have Warriors fans excited

Butler has been one of the NBA’s most noted playoff performers over recent years, and there’s a number of elements as to why that’s the case. One of those stems from his immense basketball IQ, with Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem revealing just how far that extends in re-telling a recent conversation with long-time teammate Dwyane Wade.

“I had this conversation with Dwyane Wade last night. I told him to his face, ‘you were talented as hell, LeBron has been talented as hell, but Jimmy’s way smarter than ya’ll,'” Haslem said during NBA Countdown on Wednesday.

So as the Warriors prepare for a first-round playoff battle with the Houston Rockets, Haslem’s comments should excite fans and raise optimism of the franchise taking down the seventh-seed to advance.

Problem-solving Houston’s immense defense is going to be key for Golden State, having been limited to less than 100 points in three of the teams’ five matchups during the course of the regular season. But with the veteran trio of Butler, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the Warriors might just have the experience and knowledge to overcome the challenge.

When speaking of Curry and Butler during NBA Today earlier on Wednesday, Haslem said, “I’ve never seen two guys that have not played together seem like they played together forever.”

Curry and Butler’s offensive brilliance in the playoffs emanates from mentally answering what defenses are throwing at them across the course of a series, then executing that physically to overcome the opposition.

Whether the star duo can now do that against the Rockets remains to be seen, but Haslem’s comments are the ultimate praise for Butler amid such a smooth transition to the Warriors following the blockbuster trade.