Miami Heat Hot Topics: James Johnson, Jimmy’s back, & not so lucky anymore?

The Miami Heat had an eventful last week. With a return trip by James Johnson and a few games without Jimmy Butler, it has them questioning lady luck.

The Miami Heat just accomplished something that they haven’t managed to be able to do a ton of this season. For just the second time all year, they were able to take both games of a back to back set on Friday and Saturday. On top of merely winning, the games against the Dallas Mavericks and the Brooklyn Nets proved to provide quite a few positive takeaways for this heat team as well.

While it ended on a positive note, last week included quite a few negatives as well. We won’t dwell on those particular aspects specifically, although what we do want to touch on may serve to remind you. Apologizing in advance, let’s get into this week’s hot topics!

Setting The Narrative Straight On James Johnson

The Miami Heat traded James James Johnson in the deal that saw them land Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder, and Solomon hill. That is a fact. What isn’t or aren’t facts though, are the reasons that people want to attach to the deal.

While everyone may have not loved the terms of the contract that James Johnson was signed to by the Miami Heat, he was worth every penny of it relative to what he offered and what other players of his ilk make. JJ was not traded because he was bad, he was traded because he is good and that’s the picture that this piece paints.

There Is Only One Thing To Say After This Game, When’s Jimmy Back? 

The Miami Heat were all set to win this game and in an impressive fashion, until they weren’t. They let the game slip away from them after having a high double-digit lead for much of the game.

This defeat also just so happened to coincide with a period in which Jimmy Butler was missing games due to a personal matter, so it really had us feeling dramatic and sad. The feelings about this loss were only magnified by the fact that they had also lost to another lottery-bound team in the Atlanta Hawks a few days prior. They have now righted the ship as of today, but at this moment, this is just how we felt.

Are Some Of The Lucky Things Running Out For This Team?

The Miami Heat have been giving up a ton of threes for quite a while now, while they started off the season hardly allowing any at all. What gives?

Some seem to think that it has more to do with good fortunes, while there are other theories out there. I tend to go with one that says that teams are just attempting more threes on the Miami Heat because of previous teams’ conversion rates and success, which means they need to prepare for that by guarding the line harder.

Either way, the fact remains that they are being abused at a higher frequency from deep and answers would be welcomed. Is it that they need to man up and guard a bit harder or has lady luck officially hung them out to dry?

The Miami Heat got the day off on Sunday, but that was after a long weekend and before a tough matchup on Monday. They will welcome the Greek Freak into American Airlines on Monday, fresh off a 40 point and 20 rebound performance in Charlotte.

The Heat took their one and only matchup this year at the very beginning of the season in Milwaukee and you can be sure that they remember it. For that reason and just a few others at least, you better get yourself ready for one heck of a game. Until tip-off and also until next week, this has been this week’s Miami Heat Hot Topics!