Help is on the way for the Miami Heat
Through the first week-plus of the 2020-21 NBA season, the Miami Heat have been one of the biggest hit or miss teams. On any given night, they could lose to the Milwaukee Bucks by 47 points but then beat them by 11 the very next night.
We saw that on display during the team’s first two games of the season as well when they lost to the Orlando Magic and then beat the New Orleans Pelicans on Christmas Day.
For a team that many expect to play a role in deciding who comes out of the Eastern Conference, the Heat has been pretty hit or miss to start the new season.
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In fairness, at least some of that has to be credited to the absence of Jimmy Butler. After injuring his ankle in the season-opener against the Magic, Butler has missed the team’s last two and a half games. He tried to play through the injury on Christmas Day but was pulled before halftime.
Butler then sat out the team’s two games against the Bucks. However, there’s hope on the horizon as Butler is expected to be back in the team’s lineup when they take on the Dallas Mavericks Friday evening.
With their up-and-down 2-2 start to the season, the hope is that Jimmy will help stabilize the Heat. Through their first week of the season, Miami has turned over the ball at an unhealthy pace and is averaging a league-worst 19.5 turnovers per contest.
Jimmy will help on that front, but there’s no question that the team still needs to take better care of the basketball. The team’s schedule doesn’t ease up either. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, the Heat will have to face the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers twice each.
Jimmy is coming back at the perfect time. He’ll be needed to help bring a calming force back onto the team to get the Heat back on track.
I don’t think anyone is jumping off the Heat’s bandwagon at the moment, but Miami needs Jimmy Butler back in the worse way. The good news is that it’s coming sooner rather than later.