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For the Miami Heat, only a change in the math will alter a season that again has Erik Spoelstra’s team two games below .500.
When Tyler Herro was out with his sprained left ankle, the Heat went 3-5.
With Jimmy Butler out with his sore right knee these past two weeks, the Heat have gone 3-4.
Now, with Butler returning to the team Thursday and questionable for Friday night’s rematch against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, the hope is for a change in the team’s overall equation.
“He’s one of the best players in the league. How can you not want him on the floor with us?” guard Max Strus said. “Hopefully, he can come back. We’re all excited for him to come back, and we can use him out there, for sure.”
And yet, still, when the Heat had their preferred projected starting lineup on the floor for the season’s first seven games – the lineup of Butler, Herro, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin – the Heat went 3-4.
With Butler and Herro in the same starting lineup, the Heat are 3-5.
All of that said, at 10-12 and 11th in the Eastern Conference, Spoelstra see promise for better days ahead.
“I’m not wondering about our toughness or resiliency or grit,” he said. “We’ve been developing that. And this has already been happening for the last few weeks. Even on that road trip, our previous road trip, when we were 0-4, we showed incredible resiliency. And that’s when I started to think, ‘Alright, we’ve got something here, we do.’
“Our record may be this, but we’re developing some requisite toughness, some collective grit, some collective resiliency to be able to deal with runs and deal with crowds, deal with all that kind of stuff.”
The same hope is perceptible within the locker room.
“We’re growing. I think we’re growing every day,” said guard Gabe Vincent, who returned in Wednesday night’s 134-121 road loss to the Celtics after missing five of the previous six games with a swollen left knee. “Obviously you don’t want to grow while you’re losing. But we’re growing and we’re getting better as a team. And we’re going to continue to grow.”
The Heat’s injury listed for Friday was posted Thursday afternoon.
Probable: Herro (ankle), Haywood Highsmith (ankle), Duncan Robinson (ankle), Strus (shoulder), Vincent (knee).
Questionable: Butler (knee), Dewayne Dedmon (foot). Nikola Jovic (foot).
Out: Victor Oladipo (knee), Omer Yurtseven (ankle).
Why Haslem
The 9:15 played Wednesday night by 42-year-old Heat captain Udonis Haslem were the first minutes for the veteran big man since the Oct. 29 road loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Haslem’s minutes, the most in his three appearances this season, came with Dedmon sidelined by plantar fasciitis in his left foot and with rookie big man Jovic having sat out the previous game due to plantar fasciitis of his own, now also with a groin injury.
“Niko could have given us good minutes, as well,” Spoelstra said. “But UD just gives you that veteran presence. Each possession is so important against a team like this, and all the guys trust UD. And he has a way of making everybody play a little bit harder and a little bit tougher.”
Haslem closed scoreless on 0-for-2 shooting, with one rebound and one steal.
In a zone
Heat players acknowledged that their zone defense might have played into the hands Wednesday night of Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who scored 49 points, shooting 8 of 12 on 3-pointers.
“I thought he was too comfortable,” Herro said. “A lot of his threes were standstill threes, which are easy shots for good players. So I think we need to try to make him a little bit more uncomfortable.”
Vincent agreed.
“We played a lot of zone,” he said. “So a lot of his shots were spot-ups.”
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