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Jimmy Butler faces his old team for the first time when the Golden State Warriors travel to Miami to face the Heat at 7:30 PM ET live on TNT.
The trade that sent the mercurial Butler west to Golden State last month has had a profound effect on both franchises. The Warriors have gone 16-4 since Butler’s arrival – 16-2 in games he has played in – and are now sixth in the Western Conference, having won 9-of-11 overall.
Since his arrival, Butler is averaging 17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 6.4 assists while giving a boost to a defensive unit that is second in the league during his time by the Bay.
Conversely, the Heat have gone into a freefall never seen before under long-time coach Erik Spoelstra. The team just suffered through a 10-game losing streak, the longest in Spoelstra’s 17 seasons at the helm. In fact, the Heat are just 5-17 since shipping Butler to the Warriors. Miami is now 30-41 and hanging on to the second play-in spot in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.
This is the second and final time the two teams are meeting this season. Bam Adebayo had 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Heat to a 114-98 victory at Golden State in early January. Nikola Jovic had 20 points and Jaime Jaquez added 18 points for Miami, which was playing without Butler, who was in the midst of a seven-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team at the time.
Steph Curry had 31 points to lead the Warriors, followed by Trayce Jackson-Davis with 19 points and seven rebounds, and Draymond Green with 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Let’s break down each team’s recent play while previewing this matchup and making a Warriors @ Heat NBA pick.
The Warriors lost for just the third time since the all-star break on Saturday, when the team fell at the Atlanta Hawks, 124-115.
Butler led the Warriors with 24 points and eight assists, followed by Moses Moody with 20 points and Brandin Podziemski with 19 points and eight rebounds. The Warriors were playing without leading scorer Steph Curry, who suffered a pelvic contusion Thursday in a win over the Toronto Raptors. He is being re-evaluated today and may be available tomorrow night.
Even with Curry, Butler is continuing to assert himself on the team more and more with each passing game. He has led the Warriors in scoring in three of their past four games, averaging 22 points in those four contests.
Curry continues to lead the team with 24.1 points and six assists per game.
Miami has gone 2-11 so far in March. The team finally vanquished their 10-game losing streak with a 122-105 victory over the lowly Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. Andrew Wiggins, who came over from Golden State in the Butler trade, scored a season-high 42 points to lead Miami. Tyler Herro added 29 points and Kel’el Ware had 12 points and eight rebounds.
The Heat are 1-2 so far on this five-game homestand and have lost 7-of-8 at the Kaseya Center. Before last night’s breakthrough, Miami lost Thursday evening to the Houston Rockets, 102-98. Wiggins scored a team-high 30 points, Ware had 16 points and 14 rebounds and Adebayo added 16 points.
Herro leads Miami with 23.5 points and 5.6 assists per game. Adebayo is going for 17.5 points per contest while leading the team in rebounds (9.7 rpg) and steals (1.3 spg). Wiggins is averaging 21 points and nearly four rebounds since joining the Heat.
Both Butler and Wiggins should be sufficiently motivated when facing their former clubs tomorrow evening. Wiggins has gone for nearly 24 points per game over the past seven contests. He should continue that run of performance again against his old teammates, but it is Butler, fueled by animosity toward his former club, who could take his game to another level tomorrow night.
With Curry potentially out, look for Butler to at least score more than 20 points for the ninth time in a Warriors uniform.
Brian has been writing about sports professionally for 25 years, specializing in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, men's college basketball and football, and soccer. He covered high school, collegiate and professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for two decades. His written work has appeared in several print and online publications since 1999.