The NBA doldrums tend to run from Christmas through the All-Star break, the league seemingly only awakening at the NBA trade deadline, which is Thursday, and in that case it most reinvigorates front offices.
To forward Jimmy Butler, that is where the Heat seemingly stand, coming off a 1-3 trip, with Wednesday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers at Miami-Dade Arena up next.
“I feel like the whole league right now is in a little rut/funk and everybody’s kind of like right there when it comes to records or lapses, which is not what we want to do,” Butler said. “We’re not even talking about before the break. We’re talking about win every game, we’ll be in good shape.”
That is the immediate goal, particularly with the next three being against the Pacers (25-30), Houston Rockets (13-40) and Orlando Magic (22-32). Of course, the 29-25 Heat also have managed to lose this season to the likes of the Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons this season.
“I think we take all games seriously,” Butler said. “I think we have lapses at times. It just so happens to be of teams that records are lesser, but that doesn’t say anything about their talent. It doesn’t say anything about how hard they play. That’s who we are, as of right now.
“Can we change? Yes. Should we change it? Yes. Are we going to? I say yes. But we’ve got to figure that out before the real time gets here.”
The Heat enters Wednesday’s game 17-9 at home, 12-16 on the road, with three of their next four at home, before they play four in a row on the road.
“We just got to take care of business at home,” guard Tyler Herro said. “The road’s never easy. We get home, play some teams that we’re capable of beating. Got to bring our A game and take care of business.”
Subtle gain
While he might never come to be considered a stopper, at least by the numbers, Herro is making strides.
Herro currently is third on the Heat in defensive win shares, behind only Caleb Martin and Bam Adebayo.
“He’s come a long way with his defense,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He gets a lot of reps at it, because every team basically tries to go at him. He’s a tough guy, so he takes on those challenges.”
Spoelstra has spent the season working through a variety of defenses that both accentuate his roster’s strength and also mask some of the individual deficiencies.
“You have to adapt or you die,” he said of coaching defense at a time when scoring is on the rise. “and there’s a lot of coaching staffs and teams that are trying to figure this out and you have to embrace that kind of challenge and also enjoy that challenge as competitors.”
For the Heat that has meant man-to-man, zone, drop coverage and trapping.
“It’s really not about schemes,” he said. “I get it that’s kind of an easy thing to look at, like we’re scheming against offenses. That’s not it. There’s not one defensive scheme, whether you go man or zone or trap or drop zone or switch.
“There’s no schemes that you’re not going to be required to burn a bunch of calories. It’s more important you wrap your mind around collectively doing tough things.”
Waiting game
With the Heat not playing again until Wednesday, the team has until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to post its next injury report, at which time updates on Kyle Lowry (knee) and Victor Oladipo (ankle) are expected, with both sitting out Saturday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Heat are scheduled to return to practice Tuesday, after a two-day break.
