The Miami Heat made a great start to the 2021-22 season. They are by far one of the best performing teams in the league, with a record of 6 wins and 1 loss, overwhelming almost all opponents.
The Miami Heat haven't had a single game this season with a single-digit score difference. The closest game was when they lost 11 points to the Indiana Pacers in overtime. All of their wins were at least 13 points ahead, ahead of the league-high +17.0.
This is not due to the schedule. The Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets and Memphis Grizzlies, all of whom had a 50 percent win rate. The Milwaukee Bucks were understaffed, but the Miami Heat also managed them off with ease, beating them by 42 points.
Leading Eric Spollstra's Heat is Jimmy Butler. Butler started off well, setting the tone for Both Ends of Miami's offense and defense.
Butler averaged 25.3 points and 2.8 steals per game to lead the team. He also has 7.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists as well as a great line. His per value of 30.35 so far is also very impressive. As a result, Butler went all the way up the MVP rankings at the start of the season.
The question now is whether he can stay that way throughout the season. The answer is simple, that's for sure. The only thing holding Butler back from fighting for MVP at the end of the season is his health.
Butler has missed many games during his career. He missed 20 games last season and more than 15 games in five consecutive seasons. In his career, he has only missed two games with fewer than 15 games.
If he can stay fit this season, he will be running for MVP at the end of the season. His stats are comparable to his career stats, so as the season progresses, no outliers are likely to return to the mean.
Jimmy Butler played well, and the Heat went all the way. If he can play more than 70 games and the Miami Heat are still at the top of the Eastern Conference, Butler is very hopeful of getting the MVP of the season.