Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra On Jimmy Butler Sitting Most Of The Fourth Quarter In Monday's Loss To Toronto Raptors

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra surprisingly sat forward Jimmy Butler for most of the fourth quarter in Monday's loss to the Toronto Raptors.

By the time, Buter re-entered, it was too late. The Raptors had already seized control of the game. Spoelstra said he should've reconsidered the timing of getting Butler back in the game.

"I didn't have a timeout," Spoelstra said. "It frustrated the heck out of me. I almost considered taking a foul. In retrospect, I probably should've. It was too much time of him sitting on that sidelined. Every possession really mattered."

The Heat are now 1-3 despite beginning the season with a four-game homestand. They now begin their first road trip, starting Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

"I don’t think anybody would have anticipated, starting off with this home stretch, that we’d be 1-3,” Spoelstra said. “That’s sometimes the nature of this league. It’s tough. You can’t just mail in victories. You have to earn ‘em, and sometimes things don’t go exactly how you want them to go. And these are opportunities to come together and develop some collective resolve.”

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