The Miami Heat defeated the Golden State Warriors 112-86 in a game that marked the return of Jimmy Butler III to the arena he called home for nearly six seasons.
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On a night that included a pregame tribute video and a smattering of early boos from the crowd, Butler finishing with 11 points against his former teammates. The Warriors’ offense struggled without Stephen Curry, who sat out as he recovers from a pelvic contusion.
Butler was traded from Miami on Feb. 5 in a five-team deal that ended a bitter feud between the six-time All-Star and the team he led to two NBA Finals appearances. Despite Tuesday’s loss, the Warriors have gone 16-5 since Butler’s arrival and remain in playoff contention within a tough Western Conference. Butler has scored more than 20 points in three of his past five outings and has developed quick chemistry with Curry and Draymond Green.
In a season that is likely to be remembered for Butler’s prolonged standoff with Heat general manager Pat Riley, the Heat have now won two in a row following a 10-game skid. The team is now 5-17 since trading away Butler but is likely to reach the postseason as an Eastern Conference play-in team.
Here’s what stood out for our NBA insiders from Tuesday’s game.
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Postgame takeaways
Warriors have little margin for error
The Warriors can’t get Stephen Curry back from his pelvic contusion soon enough. Curry’s injury put a sudden halt to the incredible momentum the team had built since trading for Butler in early February. Between Butler’s first game with the Warriors and Curry’s injury, Golden State was 16-3 (tied with the Thunder for the best record in that span) with a plus-10.6 net rating.
But now, without Curry, the Warriors have dropped two games in a row against sub-.500 Eastern Conference opponents, and they have four games remaining on a long road trip. If Curry is unable to return soon, Golden State’s potential playoff path could grow considerably more challenging.
Every game counts in a tight race for playoff and play-in seeding. Entering Tuesday, the Warriors had at least a 10% chance to finish in every spot from fourth to eighth in the Western Conference standings, according to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. But after their blowout loss in Miami, they’re just a half-game ahead of both the LA Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves for the No. 6 seed — and the last automatic playoff berth.
If the Warriors fall behind either of those teams, they’ll be stuck in the play-in tournament for the third time in five years. Warriors fans probably don’t need a reminder of what happened those two other times, as their team failed to advance from the play-in to the actual playoffs. — Zach Kram
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Jimmy Butler receives warm welcome in return to Miami
Jimmy Butler is introduced for the first time since being traded to the Warriors, and the Miami crowd gives him a nice welcome.
Despite win over Butler, uncertainty for Miami
Tuesday’s win was one of the few bright spots in what has been a miserable March that has undercut the Heat’s season. Beating Butler has limited value, especially with Curry missing. To underscore the state of tanking in the Eastern Conference, the Heat lost 10 consecutive games this month … and still were five games clear of 11th-place Toronto for the final play-in spot. We digress.
The Heat have a long history of brilliant personnel decisions. But the past year hasn’t been their best. Their trade for Terry Rozier at the 2024 trade deadline has not worked out. Last summer they gave Bam Adebayo a $166 million max extension — they probably had to, in all honesty — but he has responded by having his lowest-output season of this decade.
And this week Butler low-key clarified how the Heat misread his situation when he said “I knew in what direction I was going [before the season]. Nobody ever asked me, though.”
The Heat thought they could put off Butler’s desire for an extension and that he’d be focused on this season. That was clearly not the case, and the fallout from that error in judgment continues. — Brian Windhorst
