How Heat's Jimmy Butler played in return after suspension vs. Nuggets

Yesterday at 10:19 PM

MIAMI – With Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler making his return Friday night, the team would lose its third straight to the Denver Nuggets, 133-113. While the Heat are downplaying the drama, there is no doubt that fans and the basketball world alike would watch Butler’s performance closely.

It would also be the return of the Heat’s Vice jerseys, though the opening game in them was bittersweet.

#TheOriginalVicepic.twitter.com/j4fWIRkxQ6

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 18, 2025

He would finish with 18 points on shooting seven of 15 from the field to go along with three rebounds and two assists, playing a total of 33 minutes and having a -11 on the floor. Tyler Herro led the team with 22 points and Bam Adebayo had 16 points.

Here is how Jimmy Butler looked in the Heat’s loss to the Nuggets:

A look at Jimmy Butler, Heat in the first half vs. Nuggets

There is no doubt an immense amount of eyes on Butler as to how he would come out in the first half after the seven-game suspension and his frustration with his role in the offense. He would play 10 minutes and 44 seconds of the first quarter as he scored four points on two-for-five shooting from the field, missed his only three-point attempt, and had no other statistic besides having a -11 on the floor.

Butler’s effort level had been questioned in his last two games played and would be examined in Friday night’s game. He would get the ball early in trying to make plays to get going. While it was very noticeable that Butler would just stand in the corner for most plays in the aforementioned two games to start the year, there was more activity this time around.

In terms of the overall team performance, they would shoot 47.6 percent from the field but struggled from beyond the arc as they made only two of their eight attempts.

Butler would return with 6:39 left in the second quarter where he would have a dunk and drew a foul on Russell Westbrook, but there wasn’t that much activity besides that. Miami trailed by 12 going into halftime against the Nuggets as they shot 52.3 percent from the field and four of 18 from deep.

A noticeable flaw was the spacing that prevented the Heat from getting in the spots they like which while Butler would cause some of the messiness, likely due to not playing with the team for a while, the rest of the unit suffered from this.

A more engaged Jimmy Butler in the third quarter still leads to Heat loss

As expected, Butler started the second half and was more active and engaged as he had his best period thus far in the third, leading the team by the end of it with 18 points on seven of 14 shooting from the field to go with two three and two assists. He would make his presence known when driving in from the baseline and in the paint to connect on baskets in the paint and even had some mid-range makes.

This didn’t mean it led to success for the team overall as Denver played to their strengths and maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the time. It was no doubt a strange second half and game overall as the offense was still in a jumble due to sloppy spacing as mixing that with the Nuggets executing to near perfection, it was a frustrating night in Miami.

In a slight change of pace, Butler would play minutes in the fourth quarter which he didn’t do in the last two games to start the season as fans can take that any way they can. On the other hand, it wouldn’t lead to anything significant for the star and the Heat as they took the loss.

What does Jimmy Butler’s future with the Heat look like?

Because of the ongoing narrative of Butler’s effort level in games, there is difficulty in not trying to overanalyze any little detail as a form of protest from the 35-year-old. However, it does look as if Butler’s relationship with the Heat is coming to an end sooner rather than later.

Still, it wasn’t like Butler was trying one-legged three-pointers like before as he was way more engaged in the contest, especially in the third quarter, though some moments seemed weary. Butler playing in the fourth quarter is a sign that he’s possibly doing what’s asked of him until he gets dealt, which a timetable for that is not clear.

While people had their questions of letting back in chaos At any rate, Miami still gets the loss at the hands of Denver as they are now 20-20 on the season with a chance to bounce back on Sunday night when they take on the San Antonio Spurs. As will be the case for the foreseeable future, people will look closely at Butler’s outings to see the level of interest there is, though one could think that he would do as much for his teammates.

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