Jimmy Butler Says Winning is the Most Important Thing for the Miami Heat the Rest of the Season

The Miami Heat won against the Detroit Pistons Sunday night after a big fourth-quarter effort. Jimmy Butler finished the night with 26 points, 10 assists and four rebounds. He spoke about Miami’s need to stack wins as the postseason nears.

“Obviously these are important as we wind down,” Butler said. “We let a couple get away. But now we’re just trying to win as many as we can, and we’ll see where we end up. And no matter where we end up, when that time gets here, we’re expected to win.”

Miami’s defensive efforts in the second and fourth quarters limited Detroit offensively. The Heat are last in the league in scoring but their second-ranked defense keeps them competitive.

“If we wanna guard, we guard,” Butler said.” It’s the most incredible thing how we’re capable of getting stops when we want. We don’t glitch, and we do things the right way with high effort on both sides of the ball. That’s the way that I like our guys to play.”

The Heat’s next two games are against the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets, who hold the fifth and sixth seed respectively. The Knicks are pulling away from Miami and Brooklyn but a win against them on Wednesday could temporarily take Miami out of the play-in tournament. Butler emphasized the need to win regardless of the opponent.

“As long as we win, I think we’re gonna be alright,” Butler said. “No matter what place we’re in, whether we’re in the play-in or the eighth seed playing the one. As long as you win, you don’t have too much to worry about.”

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.