MIAMI – Jimmy Butler got here to play.
In pre-season, no much less.
Few indicators may very well be extra encouraging for the Miami Warmth this time of yr.
In 20:55, on an evening the place he was pulled for good early within the third interval, Butler was lively and aggressive with 24 factors on 8-of-11 taking pictures and three steals within the 120 exhibition victory. -111 towards the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday evening. Kaseya Middle.
“Jimmy simply needed to verify he had some moments tonight,” Warmth coach Erik Spoelstra stated.
That is what he did.
“Tremendous environment friendly,” Spoelstra stated of Butler’s offense, “defensive exercise degree as nicely. Yeah, he is an excellent distinctive participant, how he can do each issues at such a singular degree.
After lacking 22 video games final season after which being sidelined for the playoffs with a knee damage, Butler made his fourth preseason look, his highest since becoming a member of the Warmth in the course of the 2019 offseason.
Not solely was the taking pictures correct, together with conversions on each of his 3-point makes an attempt, however so was the thoughts.
Butler added some levity to the night by mimicking teammate Terry Rozier’s look, together with sleeves on his left leg and left arm, a bracelet on his proper wrist and purple sneakers just like Rozier’s.
And sure, Rozier was totally conscious of the imitation – and the flattery.
“I assumed it was cool,” he stated. “It was nice. It labored.
Spoelstra did not discover it, however stated: “So long as he does not put on the identical garments as the top coach, I am OK with that.”
Among the many starters, Tyler Herro added 19, 5 assists and 5 rebounds.
5 levels of warmth in Wednesday evening’s exhibition towards the Hawks:
— 1. Again to it: How dedicated are the Warmth to their presumed opening evening lineup? Even on the second evening of the back-to-back set that opened with Tuesday evening’s win over the visiting San Antonio Spurs, the Warmth caught with a beginning lineup of Butler, Herro, Rozier, Bam Adebayo and Nikola Jovic .
This quintet topped the Hawks by one level of their first stint of 8:54, by three of their second stint of seven:25, then by 4 of their closing stint of 4:36.
It was the third time in 4 exhibitions that the Warmth opened with these 5, the exception being when Herro was unavailable for the preseason opener resulting from pressure. groin, with the opposite 4 additionally beginning this match.
Adebayo closed with seven factors and 7 rebounds in 23:06.
— 2. Line change: As has been Spoelstra’s method all through this preseason, the Warmth as soon as once more opted for a five-man line change, this time with Thomas Bryant, Haywood Highsmith, Alec Burks , Duncan Robinson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. getting into collectively late within the season. the opening interval.
Level guard Dru Smith then labored with that blend, rather than Burks, placing 11 within the first-half rotation. Veteran heart Kevin Love joined the first group within the third quarter.
“We’ve got a number of weapons on this crew,” Spoelstra stated.
— 3. The Highsmith Issue: Whereas the second unit had Jaquez as the purpose guard, the function Smith had performed with the second unit was Highsmith who took the defensive task towards Trae Younger.
With Highsmith additionally offering 3-pointers, it’s turning into more and more clear that he’ll possible settle into the function beforehand occupied by Caleb Martin of coming in to defend the opposition’s greatest wing and supply 3 spacing factors.
“I say that as a very huge praise,” Spoelstra stated, “he is the utility infielder. You may plug him into a number of spots defensively and he makes your protection higher.
No sooner had Martin misplaced to the Philadelphia 76ers in free company than Highsmith was re-signed to a two-year, $10.8 million contract.
Highsmith closed with 16 factors in 17:23.
— 4. No days off: The sport was a make-up from final week’s postponement resulting from Hurricane Milton. This meant that the 2 groups had been taking part in again to again.
For the Warmth, it closed out the set that started with Tuesday’s win over the Spurs. For the Hawks, it was the primary recreation of a set that concludes Thursday on the street towards the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder.
Partly due to that schedule, the Hawks had been with out the No. 1 total draft decide, Zaccharie Risacher, Bogdan Bogdanović, De’Andre Hunter, Onyeka Okongwu, Dominick Barlow, Seth Lundy and former Warmth heart Cody Zeller.
Atlanta then misplaced beginning heart Clint Capela within the first half resulting from ankle soreness.
— 5. And at last: The Warmth wrap up their five-game preseason and four-exhibition-in-six-day streak with a Friday recreation towards the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum, when a lot of the rotation is predicted to play out. in the course of the evening off. .
That might be adopted by Saturday’s waiver deadline at 5 p.m. to slender all the way down to 18 gamers most for Wednesday evening’s season opener towards the visiting Orlando Magic. The Warmth presently have 21 gamers at most in the course of the NBA offseason.
