Takeaways from Jimmy Butler’s much-anticipated return and a much-needed Heat win over Kings
The Miami Heat recorded just two wins in the past three weeks without Jimmy Butler. In other words, the Heat needed Butler back.
Butler delivered in his return, leading the Heat to a 105-104 win over the Sacramento Kings (8-11) on Saturday night at AmericanAirlines Arena. The victory pushed Miami to 7-12 for the season and snapped a five-game losing skid.
“The Heat is back on,” Heat guard Tyler Herro said to begin his postgame media session.
Butler, who missed the previous 10 games because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols, finished with 30 points while shooting 8-of-19 from the field and 14-of-16 from the free-throw line, seven rebounds and eight assists in 34 minutes.
After the Kings rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to take a one-point lead with 1:44 to play, Butler created enough space with a spin move to hit a game-winning three-foot turnaround bank shot to put the Heat ahead by one with 42 seconds left.
Heat center Bam Adebayo then blocked a potential game-winning jumper by Kings forward Richaun Holmes at the buzzer to secure the Heat’s victory.
“The sun finally came out,” Adebayo said of snapping the Heat’s losing skid. “Like I always said, we were going to figure it out. Right now we are 1-0 and we are going to ride with that.”
Adebayo contributed 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Herro scored 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
Next up for the Heat is a matchup against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Here are five takeaways from the Heat’s win over the Kings:
After missing the past three weeks of games, Butler was aggressive and made an immediate impact in his return.
Butler showed little signs of rust, if any at all, in his first game since Jan. 9.
Butler’s first half was especially impressive, as he recorded 20 points while shooting 6-of-13 from the field and 8 of 8 from the foul line, three rebounds and four assists in 16 minutes during the first two quarters. It’s just the second time Butler has finished with 13 or more first-half shot attempts since he joined the Heat prior to the 2019-20 season.
“You simply cannot put a modern day analytic to Jimmy’s will to win,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “This was just an example of how he was not going to let us lose no matter what it took.”
Maybe the most encouraging aspect of Butler’s performance? All 30 of his points came in true Jimmy Butler fashion.
Butler scored 16 points in the paint and 14 at the foul line on Saturday. That’s where Butler typically scores most of his points.
It’s just the seventh game Butler has played in this season, as he missed 12 of the Heat’s first 19 games. Along with missing 10 games because of protocols, he missed two in the first week of the season due to a sprained right ankle.
“I just want to compete. That’s it,” Butler said of returning to the court. “I want to be with my guys. We’re in this thing together. I realize, I think I’m a decent player and I give us maybe a little bit better of a chance to win. I respect them for how hard they play and how they never give up. I’m just glad that I can be back. I’m glad that I can help and be around my dudes.”
After using a starting frontcourt that included Kelly Olynyk in each of the past 13 games, the Heat switched Olynyk out for versatile forward KZ Okpala on Saturday. Only for one half, though.
It marked Okpala’s fifth start of the season, but he played as a small forward in his first four starts alongside a frontcourt of Adebayo and Olynyk.
Saturday was the first time the Heat went with a starting frontcourt of Adebayo and Okpala.
Miami used its 14th different starting lineup of the season against Sacramento: Herro, Duncan Robinson, Butler, Okpala and Adebayo. This lineup had played just two minutes together before Saturday.
This five-man combination didn’t play too many minutes together against the Kings either. After Okpala went scoreless on 0-of-2 shooting in seven first-half minutes, Spoelstra went back to Olynyk over Okpala to begin the second half.
Okpala did not play in the second half, and Olynyk finished the win with 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting on threes, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 26 minutes. Okpala was a minus-14 in his seven minutes of action.
“This is not an indictment or an evaluation on anybody,” Spoelstra said of his decision to start Olynyk in the second half. “It’s just by any means necessary right now for our team.”
Okpala is already the fifth player the Heat has used this season to start alongside Adebayo in the frontcourt.
So far, the Heat has started Moe Harkless, Meyers Leonard, Andre Iguodala, Olynyk and Okpala in that spot in the first 19 games.
Even with Butler’s much-anticipated return, the Heat still played short-handed. Also, Kendrick Nunn did not play Saturday because of a testing delay and Herro is now facing a potential protocol issue.
The Heat’s roster is moving closer to full health, but five players were still unavailable against the Kings: Guards Avery Bradley (right knee contusion) and Goran Dragic (left groin strain), forward Moe Harkless (left thigh contusion) and centers Meyers Leonard (left shoulder strain) and Chris Silva (left hip flexor strain) were out.
The Heat had 12 available players against the Kings.
Herro, Robinson, Butler, Okpala and Adebayo started, and Olynyk, Iguodala, Gabe Vincent, Precious Achiuwa and Max Strus played off the bench.
That left Nunn and forward Udonis Haslem as the Heat’s only available players who did not get in Saturday’s game. Nunn didn’t play because the Heat was still waiting on his test results when the game began, and he was not cleared to play until the second quarter.
“We were waiting for his test results,” Spoelstra said. “At that point, he wasn’t available in the first quarter so I went a different direction and then just didn’t go back to him. It’s just one of those unfortunate things. I guess if those type of things are going to happen, it’ll happen to us. We’ll test it out first and find a way to make it work.”
Herro revealed after Saturday’s game that he had just learned a person he lives with tested positive for COVID-19, and he isn’t sure if he’ll be forced to quarantine because of the possibility of being classified as a close contact.
The Kings’ three-point shooting cooled down in the second half, and that helped the Heat hold on for the win.
Despite just 16 paint points in the first half, Sacramento took a 59-57 lead into halftime behind efficient 12-of-21 shooting from three-point range. The Kings outscored the Heat 36-15 on threes during the first two quarters.
But the Kings’ outside shooting balanced out in the second half. Sacramento shot just 5 of 24 from three-point range in the final two quarters to finish 17 of 45 (37.8 percent) from deep for the game.
Sacramento still managed to outscore Miami 51-33 on threes, but the Heat negated that advantage by outscoring the Kings 22-5 at the free-throw line thanks in large part to Butler.
It’s worth noting that Robinson broke out of his mini shooting slump to finish with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting on threes on Saturday. He had shot 8 of 36 (22.2 percent) from three-point range in his previous four games.
Saturday marked just the second game that center Hassan Whiteside has played at AmericanAirlines Arena since his Heat departure.
Whiteside, who was traded by the Heat to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2019 offseason as part of the Butler sign-and-trade deal, finished with nine points, three rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes off the bench in his second game back in Miami.
After playing last season with the Trail Blazers on the final year of the four-year, $98 million contract he signed with the Heat in the 2016 offseason, Whiteside joined the Kings in free agency this past offseason on a one-year, veteran minimum contract worth $2.3 million.
Whiteside, 31, entered Saturday averaging 7.5 points on 56.9 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds and one block in 13.5 minutes per game this season. He missed four games recently because of a sore hip.
Whiteside, who spent five seasons with the Heat, was met by loud boos and a “We got shooters!” chant from the AmericanAirlines Arena crowd in his first game back in Miami last season. But with only about 1,500 fans in attendance for Saturday’s game, the boos weren’t as harsh this time.
This story was originally published January 30, 2021 at 10:31 PM.
