The Miami Heat always find a way to ride out the slow starts of regular seasons and they’re doing so again during the 2023-24 NBA season.
After another sluggish showing out of the gate, the Heat have turned things up the past few weeks.
Miami is 8-2 in their last 10 games and is now up to sixth in the Eastern Conference.
With how they’re playing, it’s a fair bet that the Heat will climb all the way up to the No. 4 seed because they’re only one game behind the New York Knicks in the loss column.
The largest reason for Miami’s turnaround is Jimmy Butler, who is playing his best basketball of the season so far.
Butler isn’t one to shoot many 3-pointers but he explained the recent uptick in frequency and what he could accomplish if he shot even more of them, via Zachary Weinberger of ClutchPoints.
“If I wanted to shoot all threes, I actually could and I think I would shoot a really good percentage,” Butler said.
Asked Jimmy Butler about the uptick in three-point shots this season as he was 3/3 tonight. His response:
“If I wanted to shoot all threes, I actually could and I think I would shoot a really good percentage…” #HeatCulture pic.twitter.com/17DPj0fyDk
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) March 3, 2024
Butler’s built his game on mid-range game, and rarely ventures out past the 3-point line.
However, it looks like the Heat star is finally embracing needing to shoot more from distance as it puts even more pressure on defenses.
Butler in the postseason is almost an entirely different player, and he’s starting to round into that form again as the regular season begins to wind down.
A fully healthy and engaged Butler is a nightmare for any team in the playoffs, and him adding a more consistent 3-ball would make him even scarier.
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