Getty Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic and forward Jimmy Butler share a special bond and mutual respect.
There’s no denying the Miami Heat missed Goran Dragic’s playmaking and veteran leadership on the court. The savvy Slovenian missed nearly three weeks with a left ankle injury before returning on Wednesday night.
Everyone was happy to see “The Dragon” back out there on the court, especially teammate Jimmy Butler. The star forward had been kidding Dragic about milking his ailment and not missing him when that was the furthest thing from the truth.
“He told me, ‘G, get your a** home and I don’t want to see you’ or something like that,” Dragic told reporters after Wednesday night’s win. “But Jimmy’s always cracking jokes. He’s great, I mean great teammate. I love him, it’s awesome.”
Goran Dragic on Jimmy Butler tonight, “He surprised me with those threes..He’s our leader and he brought that game home.”
Also says, “He told me get your ass home.”
The Heat trotted out a backcourt of Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn against the Toronto Raptors while they eased Dragic back into the rotation. The 34-year-old still saw 21 minutes and scored 15 points. More importantly, he didn’t feel tired or winded at any point.
“I feel good. I thought I was going to be more tired but I’m not,” Dragic said. “My wind was fine. In general, I feel good, those shots need to go in but I’m happy with the dub.”
Dragic was referencing his overall poor shooting night. He shot 4-of-13 from the field while making just two three-pointers on six attempts. Obviously, those shots will start falling once he gets a few more games under his belt.
We got our 🐉 back.
All is well.
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Heat Bonding, Learning From Struggles
The Heat was getting sick and tired of hearing the critics bash them night in and night out. The team used their recent seven-game road trip to get back to fundamentals and bond with each other off the court.
4 straight dubs
It has resulted in four straight wins, something that didn’t happen by accident. Star center Bam Adebayo got real about why the turnaround has happened. They were simply done with getting their butts kicked.
“We got our a** kicked enough,” Adebayo said. “I feel like that was part of it but being on the road it felt like being in the bubble. Being in the hotel together, going on the road trip together, and being able to be around each other, rather than being at home and not being able to see each other until we’re in the gym.”
New Commitment to Multiple Efforts
Something else that multiple Heat players brought up was a newfound commitment to “multiple efforts” on both the offensive and defensive end.
When the shots aren’t falling, you have to keep pushing and continue to do the little things like boxing out and drawing fouls and making the extra pass. Head coach Erik Spoelstra has seen his team really step up in recent days.
“You can see visually the commitment to more multiple efforts,” Spoelstra said. “You have to be sharp in the mind, you have to develop a level of trust, and that doesn’t happen overnight. You have to have some mental fortitude to withstand different things and then, by all means, you have to make multiple efforts, there’s just no way around it.”
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