The Miami Heat played their hearts out for much of the game on Monday night. However, they just weren’t able to get it done, losing the game by seven points, 115-108.
The game started out a little lopsided, with the Warriors making nearly all of their shots, while the Heat struggled to get anything to go. Jimmy Butler couldn’t get anything going early on either, while Stephen Curry also seemed to be having the same type of trouble on his side.
Curry would actually sit much of the opening period after drawing two quick fouls. The Heat would use that factor and a ton of perseverance to not only keep the game close but make keep it a very winnable one throughout.
Then, it happened. The worst nightmare of anyone rooting for the Miami Heat’s success, on Monday night or the season as a whole, came true.
Jimmy Butler went down with another ankle injury.
The Miami Heat would lose Jimmy Butler to injury Monday night, but they still had a shot to win the game. They probably win it if he never leaves the game.
Missing a ton of time in recent weeks with a tailbone injury that took a while to get together, he has already missed time this season on multiple occasions with ankle injuries as well. Though that was an occurrence late in the game that, sort of, took the air out of the Miami Heat’s sails, it wasn’t over.
They continued to fight. They continued to give maximum effort.
Tyler Herro had a tough time making shots down the stretch, while Kyle Lowry had a few miscues of his own. At the end of it all, the Warriors had too much talent, while the Heat didn’t have enough after losing Jimmy Butler.
For what it’s worth and if you look at all things as equal here, with the same effort that was given by this Heat squad but with Jimmy Butler throughout, it’s pretty safe to assume they have a great chance at winning this one.
That’s not what happened and though they couldn’t capitalize on a chance to make a statement in the Bay against the league’s best team, you should be encouraged by what you saw. Hopefully, Butler’s ankle isn’t anything serious, but instead a situation that’ll see him miss just a few games or so.
At worst, he’s only out a few weeks. That’ll be good news at this point.