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The Miami Heat are having a great season overall. The team that disappointed in the last season's playoffs is now back and leading the pack in the Eastern Conference. With their 51-28 record, the Heat are on pace to be the first seed in an incredibly competitive East.
Right now, only 2.5 games separate the first from the fourth seed, which is a razor-thin margin. To continue leading the conference, the Heat will need to perform on the same level for the last few games. For that, they will need their full roster, but one player will be the difference-maker at the end of the day. Thus, we look at the one player the Heat must rely on most over the final 3 games of the regular season.
One Heat player that the team will rely on
Of course, that player is Jimmy Butler. Now, the Heat have built a roster that is very team-oriented. Their best scorer is Butler with 21 points per game, but they have six players with double-digit scoring averages. Tyler Herro is second with around 20 points, then Bam Adebayo with 18.9, Kyle Lowry with 13.4, Duncan Robinson with 10.9, and Max Strus with 10.6.
The talk of their season has been the consistency and a full team effort to reach where they are currently. Of course, there were parts of the season where they did not perform, but it was their response after that that got a lot of teams fearing meeting the Heat in the playoffs.
Regardless of the team effort, just like any team in the NBA, the Heat do have their leader, and that is Jimmy Butler. The former Bulls, Timberwolves, and Sixers forward has been fantastic for the Heat since arriving there in the summer of 2019. This season, there have been both good and bad moments. At times, Butler's intensity and ferocity on both sides of the court have been amazing, but his inconsistency with the perimeter shot has been an issue for the Heat.
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Granted, Butler has not been a knockdown three-point shooter in his career, with his best year being 2017-18 in Minnesota, where he shot 35% on 3.4 attempts per game. Yet, this season, he has been abysmal, shooting 22.7% on just 2.0 attempts per contest.
However, what is interesting in Butler's game, is that he can improve on certain segments for short periods of time. As we have established, Butler is no Steph Curry, yet in some moments of his Heat career, he was able to shoot well enough to keep his team afloat. For instance, in the Heat's series versus the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020, he shot 45.5% on 2.2 attempts per game. It is just five games, but his shots came at the right time and they were able to knock out the Bucks in five games, largely behind Butler and his offensive output.
A very good sign for the Heat, in terms of Butler's shooting, has been his last few games. In a seven-game stretch from the 21st of March until the 2nd of April, Butler scored 22.4 points on 54.5% shooting from the field and a solid 38.1% from three, on 3.0 attempts. With good shooters surrounding him, Butler really does not have to shoot the lights out, but he needs to remain a threat so that the opposing defenses do not simply choose to leave him out on the perimeter. If he can continue this form into the playoffs, the Heat have another perimeter threat, together with Herro, Lowry, Robinson, and Strus.
It is not all about offense either. According to Basketball Reference, the Heat are 11th in offensive rating and an elite 5th in defensive rating. They are clearly a team that will likely be going to grind out wins due to their lockdown defense. In terms of defensive rating, there are only two better defenders on the Heat roster that played significant minutes this year – Dewayne Dedmon and Bam Adebayo. Both of them are big guys and with the Eastern Conference full of elite wings and guards, a lot of responsibility will fall on Butler on the defensive end too.
For instance, with their current positioning in the standings, there is a more than a good chance that the Brooklyn Nets will be coming out of the East as the eighth seed. Of course, they are led by Kevin Durant, an elite wing that is a nightmare to guard for any opposition player. Thus, if the Nets really capture the eighth seed and the Heat remains in the first, that will mean a ton of work for Butler. In their remaining three games, the Heat are set to face the Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, and the Orlando Magic. Butler does not really have any significant wing to guard, but he needs to stay ready for any playoff matchup that will be waiting in a couple of weeks.
The last three games can be an opportunity for the Heat to rest some of their players before the playoffs, as they should be able to grab two wins out of the remaining games. However, Jimmy Butler should be out there, playing hard on both ends of the floor, simply to continue his great shooting form as of late, and to stay ready on the defensive end for the upcoming matchups in the postseason.
