The Miami Heat have not had good fortune over the past couple of years when it comes to injuries. It’s not that every team doesn’t have them, it’s just that they’ve hit the Miami Heat at the most inopportune times.
For example, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic sustained injuries right at the top of or leading into the NBA Bubble Finals, a chance for the Miami Heat to steal a title a few years back. That was two of their top three players right there.
Fast forward to this season, you can then look at the team that started out surprising folks, looking like a top team in the league and the East. Then— injuries decided to happen.
Bam Adebayo will miss between 4-6 weeks and Jimmy Butler can’t stay off of his butt, literally. Injuring his tailbone in Chicago a few weeks ago, he bumped it again in the Heat’s most recent defeat.
That’ll also cause him to miss their next game.
Though the injuries aren’t going their way though, where the fortune has been horrific, things might be looking up in another area.
The Miami Heat have had a bit of bad luck in a few areas this year, most notably injury. While the schedule hasn’t been ‘favorable’ either, it will be soon.
Though the schedule to open the year has been tough, with a healthy Heat doing some good things with it regardless of that fact, it gets much easier from here out.
So far, 21 of their 25 games have come against teams with .500 records, better than that, or right at .500. To add on to that, the 22nd game of the then 26 that would have occurred, is one against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
Not only one of those aforementioned teams but one of the best in the league. Also and remember, they won’t have Jimmy Butler.
On the flip side of that though and in the 15 games between Wednesday and Bam Adebayo’s projected return date of January 12th against Atlanta, they’ll play nine games against the bottom-dwellers of the league right now, a bevy of games against the likes of Orlando, Detroit, Indiana, Sacramento, Portland, San Antonio, and Houston.
Even among that though, if you look at all the games up until now and through that same Bam projected return, 26 of their 42 games up until that point and including that game against Atlanta on January 12th will be of the away variety.
Here’s where things really get interestingly sweet for the Miami Heat. After Bam returns, hopefully and with all fingers crossed on the projected date that is, 25 of their final 40 games are at home.
That’s a recipe for a massive Miami Heat run, streak, and a means to peaking at the right time as they head into the postseason. The injury bug and some other things (looking at you officiating) haven’t been in the Miami Heat’s favor or fortune this year but soon, the schedule certainly will be.