The Miami Heat have had an underwhelming 2022-23 campaign thus far after being one possession away from an NBA Finals berth a season ago. The team owns a 20-19 record, good for just the eighth-best in the Eastern Conference. And Miami just recently endured one of its worst losses of the year on Wednesday. The Lakers beat the Heat 112-109 without their two best players, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

After the loss, reporters asked Heat forward Jimmy Butler about Miami's tendency to play down to competition. Butler responded to the question candidly, per an article from the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman:

“Honestly speaking, I think we tend to do that. It’s not very professional.”

Jimmy Butler, 33, is in his 12th year in the NBA and fourth as a member of the Heat. He's averaging 21.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.2 steals, and 0.3 blocks across 25 appearances this season. Butler is scoring the ball with incredible efficiency thus far. He's converting a whopping 52.0% of his total field goal attempts, the best field goal percentage of his pro career by a wide margin. His accuracy has even carried over to behind the three-point arc, as Butler's current 33.0% three-point percentage is his highest since the 2018-19 campaign.

Unfortunately for Butler and the Heat, they are about to enter a difficult portion of their season schedule. Over the next five games, Miami will play the Milwaukee Bucks twice and the streaking Brooklyn Nets once. Here's to hoping the Heat can steal at least one of those three games, if not two.