Podcast: Playoff Jimmy, Goran’s resurgence and the Heat is in control against the Pacers
Playoff Jimmy Butler has arrived and he was worth the wait.
The Miami Heat is out to a commanding 2-0 series lead against the Indiana Pacers after Butler delivered a pair of thrilling performances to kick off the 2020 NBA playoffs.
David Wilson and Anthony Chiang, the Heat beat writer for the Miami Herald, are feeling good and they break it all down on the Heat Check podcast.
It all starts with Butler, who joined Miami in the offseason as the Heat’s biggest free agent acquisition in a decade. The All-Star wing has a reputation for taking his game to another level in the postseason and he has delivered so far, creating havoc on defense, steering the offense in the paint and even hitting three-pointers when counted upon.
The biggest revelation, though, might be Goran Dragic, who has turned back the clock to 2018, when he was an All-Star for the first and only time. The guard looks rejuvenated after the long layoff and he’s playing like the third star the Heat has been looking for to pair with Butler and fellow All-Star forward Bam Adebayo.
Ultimately, we’re feeling even better about Miami than we did when the playoffs started.
We also hit on the somewhat surprising absence of guard Kendrick Nunn, who hasn’t played in the series even after he was named a finalist for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. It still feels like his moment will come, but right now there are some pretty compelling reasons to leave him out of the rotation.
We wrap things up by looking ahead. We hope it’s not too early, but the Heat’s second-round matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks could be really fun and if the Bucks try to play Miami the same way the Pacers are it could bode well for the Heat to make a surprising run through the Eastern Conference playoffs.
