For the first time since getting traded, Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors will return to Kaseya Center to face the Miami Heat on March 25.
The league announced Thursday that TNT added the return to their nationally-televised schedule. The game will be at 7:30 p.m. EST, preceding the Oklahoma City Thunder-Sacramento Kings at 10:00 p.m.
This should be fun! Butler versus the team he called home for five-and-a-half season, which will be highly anticipated because of the turmoil from the last seven months.
That Tuesday affair will be the team’s 12th nationally-televised game of the season (including NBA TV). Miami has six the rest of the season, with the next one not being until Wednesday, March 5, against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
The Heat enters Friday with 29 games left on their schedule, having the sixth–easiest slate the rest of the way. They are in the midst of their worst losing streak of the season (four-straight) and are currently three games below .500 at 25-29.
Jimmy Butler admits March 25 rematch against Heat will be “personal”:
Butler, 35, made his first public comments about his old team for the first time since his opening press conference with Golden State on The Kris Fade Show. Here is what he had to say about facing his former teammates roughly one month away:
“I think it’s a great feeling because you know everybody,” Butler said on The Kris Fade Show. “Just like I know their game, they know my game at the same rate. But it’s all love. I’ve been in the trenches with Miami for the past six seasons, and like I tell everybody, the way that they want to beat me and make sure that they beat the Golden State Warriors, I promise you, it’s just as personal for me as well.
“Love those guys over there. Great organization. It didn’t end the way that everybody hoped it would end but that’s just part of the business of basketball. I don’t have anything bad to say about that organization.”
It likely won’t be personal for just him, either. It will be for everyone involved.
The Warriors are 3-1 since Butler’s debut with wins over the Bulls, Bucks and Rockets, respectively. Their offense has greatly benefitted from Butler’s ability to create shots and get to the free-throw line, which was two big issues for them pre-trade.
Golden State is currently 28-27 and tied with the Sacramento Kings for the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference. It is two games above the Phoenix Suns, who Butler had plenty of interest in ahead of the deadline, for the fourth and final play-in spot.
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Maybe the team will have a “Quiet Quitter Night” to celebrate his return to the scene of the crime.