The Miami Heat are headed back to South Beach and the squad is down bad after losing, 98-132, to the Milwaukee Bucks to drop to 0-2 in the series. Even more concerning than the blowout, or the 0-2 hole, or the overtime defeat (that one still burns), is the performance from the Heat’s two best players.
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo have gone a combined 17-of-61 from the field across the two contests. While the Heat need both to step up, Miami is guaranteed to burn out if Butler continues his ice-cold streak.
Here’s the most interesting question though. What’s wrong with Butler?
This is not just a bad start; it is by far his worst series-start ever thus far. It is early, but so far, this is his only playoff series in which he is shooting under 35 percent from the field.
More concerning are his free throw numbers, which have dipped to 64 percent, an all-time playoff series worst for Butler (all numbers exclude his 2012 playoff appearance when he only played four total minutes). To find the problem and solution, let’s head to the tape.