The Miami Heat look to extend their winning streak to five games Saturday afternoon as they face the Utah Jazz. However, as the team still deals with injury problems, the status of star Jimmy Butler has become more clear.
Butler has been upgraded from questionable to available for Saturday's contest, per the Heat. The 33-year-old has missed the last four games because of the injury, but in that time span, the Heat have won all four of those games. So far this season, he has averaged 21.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game.
Starting in 2024, the Heat face the duo of Los Angeles teams in the Clippers and the Lakers before taking on the Phoenix Suns to complete their five-game road trip.
Another key Heat player on the injury report
The main benefactor to Butler's absence has been Jaime Jaquez Jr. who has taken the league by storm since the start of the 2023-24 NBA season. Jaquez has been starting in the place of Butler and the rookie sensation has taken the most out of the opportunities given.
His best game recently came in the Christmas Day win over the Philadelphia 76ers where he scored a career-high 31 points and collected 10 rebounds. However, as the Heat continue to have injury problems, he is also on the injury report as “questionable” with a “head; non-COVID illness.” In the last seven games, he has averaged 17.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
More players on the Heat's injury report
Another Heat player that is questionable is point guard Kyle Lowry due to “soreness,” who missed Thursday's game against the Golden State Warriors for the same reason. The usual back-up point guard in Josh Richardson is also questionable with lower back discomfort as he's been dealing with nagging injuries in that area for sometime now.
Duncan Robinson is listed as “probable” with a left ankle sprain which was an addition to the injury report before the Warriors game, but he played 30 minutes on the issue so it seems like it is not serious. Finally, Caleb Martin suffered another ankle injury in the aforementioned loss to the Sixers and is “doubtful” for the game against the Jazz.
Spoelstra credits the young players for stepping up vs. Warriors
Just from reading all of that, the injury concerns continue to hinder the Heat, but it has been just a hurdle to overcome for Miami as despite the current winning streak, they have won 18 of their last 26 games. It continued Thursday in the upset win against Golden State on the road where a bunch of the younger players stood out.
Especially the players that get very little to no playing time with the main three being Nikola Jovic, Jamal Cain, and R.J. Hampton, who started the matchup. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke after the game and talked about each of the player's contributions.
“Without those three guys and their contributions tonight, we’re not winning this game,” Spoelstra said. “They all gave us impactful moments throughout the course of the game. The three young guys in particular, it’s not easy, they go often times weeks without playing, but they have to stay ready, as UD [Udonis Haslem] always says, to be ready. And then they also have to improve. So they can’t just be the same players they are because they’re trying to prove themselves and really establish themselves in this league.”
As a part of the win to the Warriors, Hampton played 25 minutes, having seven points, three assists, and two rebounds. Jovic had 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists. Finally, Cain led the three with 18 points and six rebounds.
Spoelstra talks about the team's “moving parts”
Spoelstra talks about the “moving parts” of the team being the injuries to Butler and others, but it has propelled other players to step up. Still, the head coach admits there are still aspects to figure out with this team with different rotations and lineups.
“The big thing, we’ve had a lot of moving parts and this has required our team to have a lot of different guys step up. That’s the way we’ve looked at it,” Spoelstra said. “You want guys to feel involved, feel like they can contribute to winning, feel like they can impact winning, learn how they can impact winning. And I’ve said now for a few weeks: As we try to figure things out, a great talent to learn in this league as a team is just to learn how to win and then you figure out all the minutiae.”
The Miami Heat are 19-12 on the season which puts them at fourth in the Eastern Conference. They face the Jazz tonight and it will be interesting to see who plays and who steps up for the Heat as they experiment with different ways to play.
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