Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler On State Of The Team's Defense: "Not Where We Need It To Be"

Butler says the Heat need to play better defensively to get back on track

Through the years, the Miami Heat have relied heavily on their defensive play. 

The defensive end is part of the reason for their slow start. The Heat rank No. 13 in defensive ration at 110.8. They are 10th in points allowed at 109.4. 

The numbers are decent but nowhere near up to the Heat's standards. 

"Not where we need it to be," Butler said. "It's not all bad but there are a lot of mistakes, miscommunication, not getting back, easily correctable stuff. Hopefully we start doing that pretty soon and stacking some Ws because we're in dire need of some wins."

The Heat showed some progress in Thursday's victory against the Charlotte Hornets. They forced 20 turnovers. 

"It's part of our identity that we really need to be disruptive and get teams out their comfort zone in a lot of different ways, which requires a big energy and focus commitment," Spoelstra said. "To be able to be active, get our hands on balls, deny passes, play multiple schemes, that's our lifeblood defensively." 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

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