Last year, the Miami Heat barely made it into the NBA playoffs, with the team having to go through the Play-In Tournament in order to clinch the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Even though it appeared the Heat were headed for a first-round loss to the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, Jimmy Butler and company quickly flipped the switch and shocked Giannis Antetokounmpo and his squad by pulling off the upset in five games.
The Heat put the East on notice as a result of that first-round upset, which carried over the next round all the way to the NBA Finals, with Miami making easy work of their opponents until the Boston Celtics took them to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Unfortunately, the magic started to wear off in the Finals against the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets, with Miami only able to win one game against Nikola Jokic and company.
With the NBA season heading into its final stretch, Butler is starting to warn the doubters that the Heat are about to turn it on via NBA Central.
Jimmy Butler sends a warning 👀
“It’s that time” pic.twitter.com/o3cF887TFF
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 24, 2024
The Heat have currently won three straight games and seven of their last 10, with the team seemingly having already turned it on with hopes of securing a higher seed in the NBA playoffs this time around.
Miami is sporting a record of 31-25 while sitting in seventh place in the East, which is just behind the Indiana Pacers (32-25) and dead even with the Orlando Magic (31-25).
It’ll be interesting to see whether the Heat can have a strong finish to the regular season and make a statement in the playoffs once again this year.
NEXT: Jimmy Butler Sends A Strong Message After Win Over Pelicans