Miami Heat off to slow start in 2021 after reaching NBA Finals, are they cruising like the Lakers?
Jimmy Butler has featured just six times for Miami so far this season amid his recovery from an ankle injury, with the team sitting 12th in the Eastern Conference. Watch the Heat visit the Toronto Raptors live on Sky Sports Main Event & Arena from 12:30am in the early hours of Thursday
Wednesday 20 January 2021 21:20, UK
With a fierce grit in the paint and sniper production on the perimeter, Miami carved out a deserved route to the NBA Finals last season behind an outstanding coaching job from Erik Spoelstra, but it has been a less than inspired start to 2021 for the Heat since falling to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Miami enter Wednesday night's matchup with the Toronto Raptors sitting down in 12th in the Eastern Conference at 5-7 having won just two of their last six games, most recently beating the Detroit Pistons 113-107 following a 28-point, 11-rebound double-double from Bam Adebayo.
Having led the team in points and assists in the 2019-20 regular season, during which his involvement was managed to just 58 games, Jimmy Butler has featured in only six outings so far this campaign while nursing an ankle injury following the quickest offseason turnaround in NBA history.
Back-and-forth results are nothing new to this Heat team, whose longest win streak last season was five games, nor have they deterred three-time NBA champion BJ Armstrong's confidence in Miami launching another playoff run.
"You've got Bam, Jimmy Butler, you've got Duncan Robinson down there, you have Tyler Herro, they've got to get past the first round," Armstrong said on Heatcheck. "Will they get back to the NBA Finals? I can't say that. But what they were able to do last year, it wasn't like they had a hot streak through the regular season, they did this consistently in the playoffs.
"And let's not forget guys in the Finals they were very competitive so I'm going to say this team has the mentality to get past the first round. But more importantly I think they have the talent to do it.
"Do I think they have the talent to get past Milwaukee? I can't say that. Do they have the talent to get past Brooklyn right now? I can't say that. But do I think this team will advance and could they upset those teams, Philadelphia and the Boston Celtics? Yeah I could see that."
While Adebayo has continued his ascent as a leading figure under Spoelstra, the Heat head coach has also been using the opening weeks of the season to offer minutes to rookie Precious Achiuwa and second-year forward KZ Okpala.
Adebayo himself along with Herro and Goran Dragic have all meanwhile missed time early on, and Avery Bradley has just seven games under his belt since arriving from the Lakers in November.
"We're talking about the LA Lakers maybe being in cruise control," said Heatcheck's Mo Mooncey. "There may be an element of that with the Miami Heat because you've got to think about it, they had the shortest offseason. The Lakers and the Heat both played the same amount of games in that finals series.
"With guys like Jimmy Butler, he's never been known for big regular season numbers but he comes through and delivers when it's time. And you've got to add into the mix guys like Duncan Robinson, guys like Tyler Herro, they've now got another year of experience.
"They've obviously lost Jae Crowder which is obviously a huge loss but they've gained Avery Bradley, another great perimeter defender.
"And then for me the biggest development for the Miami Heat is Bam Adebayo, he's got his mid-range game going, he's scoring off the dribble and he's added to his bag of tricks."
Adebayo is currently averaging a team-high 19.5 points, nine rebounds and 5.1 assists through 10 games after signing a five-year extension back in November.
The 23-year-old was absent for Game 2 and Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Lakers in the summer due to a shoulder injury.
"I think the Miami Heat have improved," Mooncey continued. "Do I think they're going to get back to the finals? No I don't. Do I think they can beat the Celtics? Most definitely. Do I think they can beat the Milwaukee Bucks? Somehow they always find a way to stop Giannis.
Live NBA: Miami @ Toronto 20.01
"Could they beat the Brooklyn Nets? That depends on the changes Brooklyn makes to its roster defensively. I don't think they got there by luck last season. There was no luck. This is a hard-working team.
"You have to look at what they've got, which is Jimmy Butler a winning basketball player, Bam Adebayo, one of the most versatile bigs and then they've got shooters on the wings."
Watch the Heat visit the Raptors live on Sky Sports Main Event & Arena from 12:30am in the early hours of Thursday.
