Not so much with the Mike Miller and the returning by Christmas

Mike Miller had hopes of returning by Christmas in order to try and help the Heat with the Lakers. Even with the Heat playing better, there’s a significant need for Miller to get back on the floor. He’s a more reliable shooter, ball-handler, and defender than James Jones or Eddie House, and when the Heat was first constructed, Miller was to play a pivotal role as the fourth best offensive option. He’s designed as the end-point if you commit to the Big 3 (or as it seems to be more and more, the Big 2). There was talk that he could make it back by then.

Yeah, not so much.

Erik Spoelstra told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that even though Miller’s able to get back on the floor now with his thumb healing, there’s a huge difference between that and being in game condition.

Miller has been out since the preseason with a thumb injury."Whenever hes cleared for contact, hell need to get into game condition and speed and tempo of the competition,” Spoelstra said. “So I think hes still a ways away before he could actually take some contact on it. But if you saw him working out, you would think, and he would tell you, that hes ready to go. But hes not yet.”

via Miami Heat: Mike Miller, Dexter Pittman will be away from Miami Heat for a while longer - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com.

Not having Miller means that Christmas is going to be even less the game we thought it would be, and even with the Heat’s improvement, it’s hard to see this being all that competitive. The Lakers have struggled in games they don’t care about. They’ll care about the Heat. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see the Heat at anything close to full-strength (minus Haslem).