The Miami Heat are headed out west for a road trip and the first two games of it occur on the Friday before New Year’s Eve and then on that night itself. Facing off against the Nuggets in Denver on Friday, the Miami Heat will then travel to Utah to face a Jazz team that many thought would bottom out after shipping off Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
With all of that in mind, you consider what version of the Miami Heat you’ll see on Friday. With Kyle Lowry missing their last game in a victory over LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers, he is expected to be going Friday, traveling with the team on the team plane.
So, there is that. And though they will continue to miss Dewayne Dedmon as he allows his plantar fascia more time to heal, they do have a, mostly, full roster in tow for Friday night.
The Miami Heat need to secure all the wins that they can and when they can. When Jimmy Butler is scheduled to miss a B2B, they need to win the first one.
But that’s just it. When it comes to the best player that the Miami Heat have to offer in Jimmy Butler, there is this caveat to consider.
Heat listing Jimmy Butler as probable for Friday in Denver. Team already had said Butler would not play both nights of back-to-back. So if plays vs. Nuggets, likely sits Saturday in Utah.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) December 29, 2022
Out: Dedmon, Yurtseven.
Questionable: Martin, Haslem.
Probable: Vincent, Jovic and Butler.
Managing Butler’s health and freshness, knowing the toll he puts on his body, that his body has already endured across his career, and knowing that they will only go as far as he can take them in the postseason—the Miami Heat won’t play him both nights here.
Perhaps that’s just the plan, it has something to do with him being banged up recently, or the elevation, or anything of the nature—but you can’t really complain as long as he is ready when the postseason arrives. But this isn’t even about that, as they do have to get enough wins to get there, which you totally still believe they can.
But that’s another point of interest as well. In knowing that Jimmy Butler is, likely, not going to play Saturday, the Miami Heat need to do all they can to secure a victory on Friday.
He enormously increases their chances to win in any game they play, so they need to take advantage of that when they can, while also securing victories where they can. And that’s why the Miami Heat need to make Jimmy Butler’s presence count Friday.