Miami Heat cannot afford a tentative Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry
With the Miami Heat headed back home after a three-game West Coast road trip, they’ll not only look to get some rest until Tuesday’s rematch contest with the Golden State Warriors, but they’ll go soul searching for a few answers.
Noting that he needed to see his team play with more cohesion, Coach Erik Spoelstra certainly seems like a guy ready to tinker with and tweak things until he strikes the right keys. And that should certainly help, especially if it sends a jolt throughout the team.
Speaking of jolts though, being jumpstarted at least, there are several key Miami Heat guys that could stand to lean into such a philosophy. Specifically, when it comes to Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, they could better serve their team by getting engaged at earlier points in games than they have at times throughout the season thus far.
The Miami Heat have things to adjust and that starts with their best guys. Two of them, Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler, have to get engaged earlier in games.
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In one example, from their latest game even, Lowry would finish the first half of action with just two points, while the Miami Heat’s best player in Jimmy Butler would only finish with seven. You just can’t have that from them—not if they expect to win anyway.
Kyle Lowry has infamously been passive to begin games since coming over to Miami last season. While some of it could have been labeled as a result of his inconsistent presence in the lineup at times last season, he has no excuses at this point so early in a season to be that way.
For Jimmy Butler, he has had times where he hasn’t taken his shots in past seasons for the Heat, but he was still engaged in the offense to the point where his presence allowed for his teammates to be more effective. This year though, he’s clearly conceding for some reason or another early and it isn’t making his teammates more effective along the way.
They both have to figure it out, as that’ll be a huge part of the Heat figuring it out.
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They have chances to get some revenge on Golden State and Sacramento in the coming week but in order for them to do that successfully, along with having the success in the remainder of the year that they hope to have, Lowy and Butler will have to activate earlier than they have been on a few occasions.