The Warriors are in Miami, and Jimmy Butler’s comeback game against the Heat is near
MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler is back in Miami for a few days.
Golden State’s schedule is quirky right now — the Warriors played Saturday night in Atlanta, arrived in Miami around 2 a.m. Sunday, play the Heat on Tuesday and the team won’t leave South Florida until Thursday afternoon since its next game isn’t until Friday in New Orleans.
Tuesday’s game will be Butler’s first in Miami since the Heat traded him to the Warriors in early February, ending a months-long saga of him wanting a trade and getting suspended by the Heat three times before a deal could finally be worked out.
“Another game for me,” Butler told reporters after Golden State’s loss in Atlanta on Saturday night. “Another game that we’re expected to win, for sure, though.”
The Warriors are 16-3 with Butler in the lineup since the trade. The Heat snapped a 10-game losing streak on Sunday by beating Charlotte 122-105 — behind 42 points from Andrew Wiggins, who came to Miami in the deal that sent Butler to the Warriors.
“I’ve got a hell of a team here,” Wiggins said after that win.
The Heat, as they have done with many former All-Star caliber or championship players in their first games back in Miami as an opponent, are planning a tribute to thank Butler for his accomplishments during his 5 1/2 seasons with the franchise. Miami went to the NBA Finals twice during Butler’s time with the team.
“We was all right,” Butler said of his Miami years. “We didn’t win like we were supposed to. We made some cool runs. We had some fun.”
Butler left a mark in Miami over his 5 1/2 seasons — eighth in team history in points, eighth in assists, eighth in steals, all of that in just 313 appearances. And in the playoffs, he was exceptional: There have been 18 games of 40 or more points in team postseason history and Butler is responsible for eight of them, including a record 56-point night against Milwaukee in the 2023 playoffs.
He said he loves the Miami fan base — “they showed me a lot of love while I was there,” Butler said — but noted that he’s with the Warriors, which means he’s showing up Tuesday to win because that’s the job.
“I was traded from there, yadda yadda yadda. Yeah, it didn’t end the way people wanted it to, yadda yadda yadda,” Butler said. “But that’s so far behind me now, I don’t even think about it.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
