The Miami Heat have had very few answers during their current five-game losing streak, and Jimmy Butler shared some concerning words when asked how they are going to break out of the slump.
Jimmy Butler mentioned needing the energy to shift and getting back to having fun
So I asked him how exactly can they shift the energy at this time: pic.twitter.com/Rikf3IQyXj
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) January 26, 2024
“I don’t know,” Butler said. “Genuinely, I cannot give you an answer for that. I just know that we gotta stick together through the good and through the bad. I know that this will change. This too shall pass, however you wanna put it. But we gotta go out there and do it.
“And it’s not gon’ get any easier, I’ll tell you that.”
Butler was speaking after the Heat suffered a particularly discouraging 33-point home loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday. In a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals — which Miami won in seven games — the Celtics put up their most lopsided win ever against the Heat, playoffs included.
A difficult game against a true NBA title contender seeking a bit of revenge might be able to be explained away. But during the five-game skid, the Heat also have suffered a 24-point loss to the Toronto Raptors and 18-point loss to the Orlando Magic.
The slide has dropped Miami’s record to 24-21, and it has fallen to seventh place in the Eastern Conference entering play Friday. The Heat next play Saturday against the New York Knicks, who have been surging since they acquired O.G. Anunoby in a trade with the Raptors late last month. Miami will be trying to avoid a sixth straight loss, which would equal its longest slide since March 2021.
The Heat also made a move of their own, landing Terry Rozier in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets this week. He scored just seven points playing 29 minutes on Thursday after putting up just nine points against the Memphis Grizzlies in his Miami debut on Wednesday. The 29-year-old was averaging more than 23 points per game with Charlotte this season.
One NBA scout did say that acquiring Rozier now makes the Heat better than the Knicks. But there will be an adjustment period while he becomes familiar with the Heat and his new teammates. Miami again also has the trio of Butler, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo available at the same time after each has been sidelined at various points during the season.
With the NBA trade deadline approaching early next month, the Heat have little time to make another move to improve the team if they are looking to do so. Otherwise, it will be up to the current players to do it themselves, as Butler himself admitted.
