Getty Jimmy Butler defends LaMelo Ball during a game between the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets.
There may still be kinks to iron out on both sides of the ball, but Kevin Love’s second game in a Miami Heat uniform went decidedly better than his debut did. In 26 minutes of play against the Charlotte Hornets, Love scored 13 points and snagged 13 rebounds while nailing three triples and dishing out two assists.
Moreover, the Heat outscored their opponents by six points when he was on the court. Despite the turnaround from the five-time All-Star, though, the Heat still fell short for the second straight time coming out of the break, dropping a 108-103 decision at Spectrum Center.
Miami had issues on all over the court, too, as the club got outrebounded by six, outscored in the paint by 10 and throttled in the second unit by a 36-10 mark.
As such, Heat star Jimmy Butler was more concerned with what he and his teammates weren’t able to get done in the wake of the setback than any silver linings there might have been with Love or the game’s close score.
Heat Star Jimmy Butler Makes It Clear That He’s Not Down With Losing Games
Butler wore his exasperation on his sleeve as he spoke with reporters after the game on Saturday. Sure, the team was able to make a game of it after having trailed by as many as 22 points but, as the Heat star sees it, the end result is all that matters.
“We lost. It don’t matter what quarter it was in, man, we lost. I’m tired of losing,” Butler said before offering a grim assessment of what transpired. “You’re not getting no stops, man, not getting no stops, shots not going in and then it’s all downhill from there.”
Asked again about silver linings and things to find solace in, Butler hammered home the point that, for him, there’s no such thing as a moral victory.
“We lost — I don’t care if we were down 30 or we lose about 30 or lose by one; we lost. And I don’t think anybody in here wants to lose but we’ve got to figure this out very, very quickly.”
He’s not wrong. Thanks to their four-game losing streak — and the New York Knicks‘ five-game streak in the other direction — the Heat now find themselves in the No. 7 spot in the East standings. And there’s only 3.5 games separating them and the No. 10 Washington Wizards at the very bottom of the play-in range.
Butler Has Returned From the All-Star Break With an All New Vigor
The exhaustion he’s feeling amid the team’s sudden downturn notwithstanding, Butler has looked like a new man coming out of the extended All-Star break. Over Miami’s last two games, he has connected on 14 of his 18 field-goal attempts (a 77.8% conversion rate) and added 22 free throws made while averaging 25.5 points per game.
Really, the Heat haven’t been able to live without him on the court. Since coming back, the team has been 34.5 points per 100 possessions worse from a net swing standpoint when Butler watches from the sidelines.
Butler and the Heat will have an opportunity to snap their streak on Monday for the first of a home-and-home set with the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip-off from wells Fargo Center will be a 7 p.m. ET.