Butler’s return should ‘inject life into whole group’

The last time Jimmy Butler played in Boston, he had a game for the ages: 47 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals to lift Miami to a Game 6 win in the Eastern Conference Finals and force a Game 7, which the Heat lost on its home court.

Butler returned to TD Garden on Friday, having joined the team midway through a four-game road trip after missing seven games with right knee soreness.

“Can’t wait,” Butler said on an Instagram post delivered from his flight to Boston on Thursday night. “Been out for too long.”

After Butler participated in a Friday morning shootaround at a Boston health club, Spoelstra said Butler’s return “brings life into our whole group. We all know how important he is for our team, and it’s just great to have the entire group back in the same gym, including Vic [Oladipo]. We’ll get Omer [Yurtseven] back with us soon enough. Jimmy had some great work, no setbacks.“

“We’re not fully healthy, but you could just feel like the momentum’s starting to shift. We’re starting to get guys feeling a lot better.”

A few numbers to know as Butler returns:

Entering Friday night’s game, the Heat had outscored teams by 23 points with Butler on the court this season. When he isn’t on the court, Miami has been outscored by 46.

The biggest difference in the Heat’s play with and without Butler has come on the offensive end.

With Butler on the court, the Heat is averaging 118.1 points per 100 possessions; as perspective, if Miami scored at that pace all the time, that offensive rating would rank second in the league behind only Boston.

Conversely, Miami has scored 102.8 points per 100 possessions when Butler isn’t on the court. As perspective, Charlotte ranks last in the league in offensive rating at 105.9.

But the Heat’s offense has played well without Butler in recent games, scoring 113, 110 and 106 in three consecutive wins before scoring 121 in Wednesday’s loss at Boston.

Though Butler is a very good defender and a five-time second team All-Defense selection, the Heat’s defensive rating this season has been worse with him on the court (115.4 points per 100 possessions) than with him off the court (107.2).

That’s very likely a reflection more on teammates than Butler, but it’s notable that players defended by Butler are shooting 48.4 percent.

Those same players are shooting 46.9 percent overall this season. Last season, players defended by Butler shot 44.3 percent.

Butler has the team’s signature defense play of the season to date — a game-saving block of a Devin Booker shot to seal the Heat’s win against Phoenix.

Those numbers don’t fully take into account zone coverages or when a team leaves his man to help on another.

The Heat’s opening night starting lineup of Butler, Caleb Martin, Bam Adebayo, Kyle Lowry and Tyler Herro has played a team-high 88 minutes together.

Miami has outscored teams by nine points with that quintet on the floor, while shooting 44.4 percent overall and 43.8 on three-pointers (21 for 48).

The best lineup, statistically, featuring Butler is the group with Butler, Adebayo, Martin, Lowry and Max Strus.

That group has outscored teams by 43 points in 73 minutes, while shooting 53.9 percent from the field and 55.1 percent on three-pointers.

Butler has played 52 percent of his minutes at power forward and 48 at small forward.

HIGHSMITH EARNING MINUTES

In matching a career high with 16 points on Wednesday, Haywood Highsmith had nearly as many three-pointers (four in six attempts) as he did in his first 12 games this season, when he shot 5 for 24.

But the primary reason he has earned regular minutes — aside from injuries — is his defense. He’s limiting the player he’s shooting to 36.2 percent shooting (34 for 94). That’s fourth best in the league among players who have defended at least 60 shots.

He “already has been earning the trust of everyone in the locker room because of his defensive toughness and tenacity,” Spoelstra said. “In our zone, he’s as good as anybody we have. He’s doing so many good things, making the right plays.

“We knew it was a matter of time before he started knocking down those shots. He has earned legit playing time; even when we get healthy, we have to think about it.”

With Butler returning, Spoelstra could face a decision between Highsmith and Duncan Robinson as a potential ninth man, based on whether he feels a need for offense or defense. And when Oladipo returns, another decision awaits.

Highsmith has played at least 25 minutes in five of the Heat’s past seven games, with Butler sidelined during that stretch.

The Celtics shot 3 for 12 against Highsmith and 43 for 71 against everybody else on Wednesday.