The Miami Heat got a tough home win against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks on Friday, but Saturday’s game will really indicate if the slump is over.
The Miami Heat faced off against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night in what was the most important game of the season to date and not only just because it was the “next one”. The Miami Heat are coming off what has certainly been their worst four-game stretch of the season, ripe with losses to… wait for it… the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In case you are wondering why it was the worst stretch, here you go. Those three teams have a combined record of 52-126 as of the end of Friday night’s games. Yea, as we said, their worst stretch of the season.
With Luka Doncic and the Mavericks coming into their building though, this was no time for the Miami Heat to dwell on the past and sulk, they had to try and go out to get a win. That is exactly what they did.
Jimmy Butler was the catalyst on Friday night, exerting his will all over the court and coming out strong to set the tone and an example for his team. Of the Heat’s 31 first-quarter points, Jimmy Butler was responsible for 11 of them.
He finished the game with 26 points, five rebounds, and three assists on 8-14 shooting from the floor and no attempts from deep. That’s a heck of a job by Jimmy in being aware that his shot isn’t falling right now and that the best thing to do is to take it to the cup early and often. Jimmy was so impressive on Friday, that Bam Adebayo had this to say on his star teammate, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
Adebayo on Butler's aggressiveness early tonight: "That is the Jimmy Butler I need.... That is the one I want to have every night. He needs to be like that the rest of the season if we are even thinking of contending for a title." https://t.co/FOenw29i13
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) February 29, 2020
Indeed Bam, Indeed. We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves. That isn’t the only major takeaway from this game though.
As we mentioned earlier, this win came only after three putrid losses, a slump as some might call it. Or is it? That is the question that Saturday’s game against Brooklyn will answer.
The Miami Heat have been less than bad on the second night’s of back to backs this season, almost flawless at home, and as bad as they’ve been all season over the last seven games or so. We know, one heck of a paradox of actual facts.
Saturday’s game will serve to show whether Friday night’s win was something real we can sink our teeth into or fast food. It will give a good indication of if the past few games have been an imaginary slump or a Miami Heat idiosyncrasy. Was this a random phenomenon that was bound to happen over the course of a long season for a relatively young team or is this a habit that they will have to fight the rest of the year?
That is the question and Saturday night’s game will move us just that much closer to an actual answer to that question. We need the answer to be the right one, so let’s sure hope the Heat got their studying in.