Jimmy Butler Has the Heat Back on Track for Championship Contention

Jimmy Butler’s return has the Heat back on track for NBA championship contention

The Miami Heat made a surprising run to the NBA Finals last year (not surprising to PSO) in just the first year since adding Jimmy Butler in the offseason. Butler’s presence helped elevate the young players around him in South Beach as Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Kendrick Nunn, and Duncan Robinson were all much improved in 2020 and kept it going into the bubble where Goran Dragic also had the best run of his career as well. 

For all those who said Jimmy Butler isn’t a ‘winning’ teammate were proved wrong after witnessing his heroics in the NBA Finals as he outperformed the greatest player of his generation on the biggest stage multiple times. Butler has an x-factor to him as the type of player to leave it all on the line, regardless of his superstar status. 

When he was out for 10 games for COVID protocols, the Heat struggled. Really struggled. Miami went 2-8 without their 5x All-Star leading the way. The Heat are now 5-2 since his return and are now riding a four-game win streak after Butler racked up his first triple-double of the season against Houston on Thursday. 

Butler is the type of player to get buckets when his team needs them most, but then be a main distributor throughout the game to get his teammates involved. Considering he has another All-Star around him in Adebayo, a rising stud in Herro, a certified clutch scorer in Dragic, and a prolific sharpshooter in Robinson, the reigning East champions have more than enough firepower, defense, and leadership under 2x NBA Champion Eric Spoelstra to make it back to the NBA Finals. 

None of their recent victories have been that impressive considering they’re against losing teams but the Heat had to get back on track and Butler’s return has allowed them to do exactly that. Their upcoming six-game road trip against the best of the west in the Utah Jazz, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, and Golden St. Warriors will really prove if this team is all the way back to being the gritty, cohesive squad that no team wants to face. 

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