Getty Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat.
The Miami Heat (11-12) have finally started to build momentum after a slow start to the season, beating the Boston Celtics (18-5) on December 2 and climbing to within one game of .500. With the much-needed return of star Jimmy Butler, who’d missed seven games to injury, Miami’s core starters appeared in their first game together since November 1.
“It’s our big four,” said center Bam Adebayo, per the Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang. “It’s who we depend on most throughout the game on both sides of the court. … When you’re missing one of the pieces, you can tell. But when we’re all together, I feel like we’re hard to beat.”
Each of the “big four” scored in double digits, with Adebayo leading the way with 28 points, Tyler Herro dropping 26 on the C’s, Butler scoring 25 points (to go along with 15 rebounds in his return) and Kyle Lowry adding 20 points.
“Our big four, they were tremendous,” said head coach Erik Spoelstra, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “At different stages of the game,” Spoelstra said, “I felt like they all were able to put their imprint on the game offensively. They weren’t in each other’s way.”
Jimmy Butler on His Return
Butler talked about the recent play of the Heat and strong performances of its key players in his absence and how their consistently strong play made his return easy.
“I don’t think it’s that hard when you got guys that are gaining confidence whenever I’m out,” Butler said, according to Winderman’s December 3 story. “And then they continually play the same way whenever I’m back, my job gets really, really, really simple then.”
The Heat have now won four of their last five (which included back-to-back games against the Celtics, the Eastern Conference leaders) after losing four in a row in mid-November.
“They’re comfortable. They’re confident. And they’re a big reason that we’ve been winning as of late,” Butler said, according to Winderman. “And now that I’m back, I just want it to stay the same, keep it consistent, because that’s what’s been winning games for us.”
Lowry: Heat Will ‘Continue to Build’
Lowry, who added five rebounds and four assists in the win over the Celtics, seemed optimistic about having the big four on the court together again.
“We’re now in December, so we can kind of start piecing things together,” Lowry said, according to Winderman. “We went through, hopefully, our stretch of unfortunate luck with injuries. Hopefully. that’s done for us, and we can continue to build.”
Now that the Heat’s starting is core is back together, Miami awaits the return of two key rotation players — guard Victor Oladipo and center Omer Yurtseven — who have not seen any action this season.
“It’s just great to have the entire group back in the same gym, including Vic,” Spoelstra said, according to a December 2 story from Sports Illustrated’s Shandel Richardson. “We’ll get Omer back with us soon enough. We’re not fully healthy, but you could just feel like the momentum’s starting to shift. We’re starting to get guys feeling a lot better.”