The Miami Heat are currently on a four-game winning streak, but few outside of South Florida may know it because Jimmy Butler and the Heat have had very limited national exposure this season.
Butler recently spoke about the small amount of nationally televised games the team has.
“I don’t feel like the NBA rock with the Miami Heat too much any way,” Butler said. “At least we get to play somewhere. We don’t got no TV games or nothing.”
Butler and the Heat often utilize signs of disrespect as motivation to prove doubters wrong, and there is no doubt that Butler has a point when talking about the lack of nationally televised games.
Not counting games on NBA TV, which are blacked out in local markets and subject to change, the sole nationally televised game so far this season featuring the Heat was an Oct. 21 matchup versus the Boston Celtics.
That game ended in a 111-104 loss for the Heat.
The next nationally televised game not on NBA TV for the Heat will be a Jan. 4 road game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Though there has been a lack of Heat games on national television so far this season, Butler likely isn’t too bothered. After all, he’s surely mostly focused on what he can continue to do to help the Heat make up ground in the Eastern Conference.
After a really shaky couple of months to start the season, the Heat are finally playing consistent, winning basketball. They’re 4-0 in their last four games. To make matters more promising, the Heat have had three different players lead the way from a scoring standpoint across those four games.
Butler was the team’s top scorer in Miami’s 111-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs with 26 points. Tyler Herro led the way in the two previous wins with 41 and 35 points, respectively. Bam Adebayo led the team in the first game of the winning streak with 22 points in a win over the Indiana Pacers. He was also the team’s leading rebounder in that game with 17.
Thanks to the last four games, the Heat are above .500 at 16-15 and now just 1.5 games back from being clear of the play-in tournament.
It’s great to see the Heat playing a winning style of basketball, even if very few outside of South Florida have been able to enjoy it.
