Jimmy Butler's off night, Tyrese Haliburton explosion doom Heat vs. Pacers

01/02/2025 10:05 PM

MIAMI – As the Miami Heat beat the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night in the first game of a back-to-back with Jimmy Butler back, they lost the second, falling to the Indiana Pacers, 128-115. It would be an off night for Butler who is the face of trade speculation this season, having another game with low usage.

That’s all from this one. pic.twitter.com/zvcDFEaOwr

— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 3, 2025

Kel’el Ware led the game with 25 points and three blocks as Bam Adebayo had 20 and eight rebounds while Tyler Herro contributed with 17. As for Butler, he would finish with nine points on three for six shooting with four assists two rebounds, and had a -27 when on the floor.

Here are three takeaways from the Heat’s loss to the Pacers on Thursday night:

Pacers swamp Heat in first half, another slow start for Jimmy Butler

It was a slow start for Miami as they had middling play on both sides of the ball, especially on defense with Indiana scoring 38 in the first quarter, led by star point guard Tyrese Haliburton. He would find his spots as he finished the period with 16 points on six of nine shooting from the field, including four of seven from beyond the arc.

Heat star Jimmy Butler returned from a five-game absence on Wednesday night as his usage rate was noticeably low and he didn’t make his first field goal until under a minute left in the second quarter in the win over the Pelicans. He would get the first bucket in Thursday’s game and be way more active on the offensive side of the ball, but it was a messy one for the team overall in the first frame as they shot nine of 20 from the field and one of six from deep.

The Pacers forced the Heat into precarious possessions that resulted in messy spacing and an inability to execute their offense, something that was a point of emphasis in the second quarter. Coming off a one-game suspension, Terry Rozier led off the bench with eight points.

Though it seemed like a fast start for Butler, he would be radio silent for the rest of the first half as the two points he recorded were the first basket of the game. He would shoot one of two from the field as it was once again Herro and Adebayo that led the way with 12 points each in the 24 minutes. The team trailed 66-50 as the Heat had six turnovers in the second quarter that continued their sloppy play while gaining some ground on offense.

Demoralizing second half for the Heat

In the first half, Miami shot 51.4 percent from the field and four of 13 from deep as Indiana is 58.7 percent from the field and eight of 22 from three-point range. Looking at those numbers, the Heat needed to up the pressure on the defense, but the start of the second half saw the Pacers have a bunch of wide-open shots, leading to their largest lead of 21 points midway through the third.

After the third quarter, Indiana would shoot a whopping 61.4 percent from the field and 44.1 percent from three-point range as Haliburton added a handful of more as he was up to 28 points.

Adebayo would get a lot of work in the third quarter as he recorded eight points in the quarter, but the focus is still on Butler and his activity level which besides getting a couple more buckets, it’s been off. There would be many offensive possessions where Butler would be stuck in the corner until a play develops.

He would be taken out towards the end of the third quarter as the last time Erik Spoelstra did that was on Wednesday, Butler would not be seen for the rest of the game. However, the game was out of hand by the end of it compared to the other contest. He would not appear for the rest of the game, but Miami would fire up later in the fourth quarter, especially from the Heat’s first-round rookie in Ware who lit it up from deep, hitting three of four and having a career-high of 25 points.

Still, it was too little too late for the home team as the Pacers built up a huge lead and sustained it until the end of the game.

A look at Jimmy Butler’s second game back for the Heat

There is no doubt that Butler’s future with the Heat has been questioned by the immense amount of trade speculation that has been around him. Looking at his performances in the last two games, the rumors of him being dealt before the Feb. 6 trade deadline will amplify, but it’s probably far from certain for that to be the case.

It’s important to remember that Butler had missed five games due to a stomach illness that had him “down for the count” to put it in his words. There is a possibility that the reason why the activity level is low is that Butler is still getting into game shape to take on a full workload in the near future.

Like Wednesday, Butler would be taken out towards the end of the third quarter to not return and when he was in, the activity level was relatively down compared to before. Plus, this was the second game of a back-to-back so one has to wonder if that factored into it.

At any rate, it will be interesting to monitor Butler come the next game on Saturday night when the Heat take on the Utah Jazz now that they are 17-15.

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