Today is the day that a very familiar face is set to make his return to sunny South Florida. Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors are in town to face off against his former Miami Heat.
Ever since Butler’s midseason trade departure, each of the Warriors and Heat have seen vastly different results on the court. Butler has injected new life into Golden State, willing them to a 16-3 record with the six-time All-Star in their lineup.
As for Miami, it’s been the complete opposite. They finally just snapped an embarassing 10-game losing skid with their win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, and have limped to an abysmal 5-21 record ever since the blockbuster trade went down.
However, the recent emergence of Andrew Wiggins has finally given the fanbase something to cheer about again. Wiggins, who was acquired as the headliner in the Butler deal, has dropped 72 points combined over the Heat’s last two games. He is coming off a career outing of 42 points on 76% shooting during Sunday’s win.
Miami will be expected to match Wiggins up against Butler on the defensive end, in a trade-swap clash.
All-Star Tyler Herro is coming off a dominant showing of his own, adding 29 points to compliment Wiggins’ 42-point explosion. After the game, Herro spoke to the media on his thoughts of the upcoming and anticipated Butler reunion.
In what will undoubtedly be the biggest matchup of the entire 2024-25 season for Heat Nation, the game will be nationally aired on TNT.
Injury Report (at the time of this publishing):
Miami Heat:
- Nikola Jovic (hand) — OUT
- Dru Smith (achilles) — OUT
- Josh Christopher (g-league) — OUT
- Keshad Johnson (g-league) — OUT
- Duncan Robinson (back) — QUESTIONABLE
- Isaiah Stevens (g-league) — OUT
Golden State Warriors:
- Stephen Curry (pelvic) — QUESTIONABLE
Projected Starting 5 (subject to change):
Miami Heat:
- Tyler Herro, G
- Duncan Robinson, G
- Andrew Wiggins, F
- Bam Adebayo, F/C
- Kel’el Ware, C
Golden State Warriors:
- Stephen Curry, G
- Brandin Podziemski, G
- Jimmy Butler, F
- Draymond Green, F
- Quinten Post, C
Broadcast Info:
- Tipoff: 7:30 PM EST
- TV: TNT, Max & truTV
- Radio: AM 560 Sports WQAM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson)
- Spanish Radio: WAQI 710 AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda)
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Someone(s) may be happy to know Duncan is out tonight.
This will be a good test for a Miami team in search of it’s Mojo. Steph may not play although he’ll be in attendance. It sure would be nice to see Wiggins outplay the quitter.
It looks like the 9th place Bulls have found their Mojo. They’ve won 3 straight and 8 out of their last 10 and are 1.5 games ahead of Miami. If they are able to hold on to that spot and Miami remains in 10th place, the Heat will start the play-in round on the road. One loss and they are out. If they were to win the first game, they would still need to win a second game against the loser of the 7th and 8th place teams to go to the playoffs. If that happens, they will lose their 2025 draft pick to OKC.
I for one, hope Miami loses in the play-in round, thereby retaining it’s lottery pick (likely in the #8 – #10 range). That would be good enough to select a good point guard. See composite point guard rankings below.
https://hoopshype.com/lists/aggregate-2025-nba-mock-draft-4-0-the-best-point-guards-available/
Who knows, like Atlanta in 2024, maybe Miami’s number comes up in the first four picks. (Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, V.J. Edgecombe, Derek Queen, Jeremiah Fears, who knows?) I can dream, can’t I? See overall composite rankings below.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25173295-2025-nba-mock-draft-2-round-predictions-and-pro-comps-ncaa-sweet-16
GO HEAT!!!
I would say that this win would be worth three loses, speaking of level of satisfaction.
If Jimmy would be held bellow 10 points, being blocked once or twice, make no contribution whatsoever (as half Heat games this and last season), it would be worth even more.
That sounds nice. But, unlikely. We just lost ten straight and then beat a completely tanking team. Even though it’s nice to dream, this is the real world and we win only if Steff doesn’t play and maybe we even lose then.
But, take heart Heat fans no matter the outcome tonite. Check back when next year we are moving upward in our rebuild while the Warriors will have already lost by round two of the playoffs and then they will get to see the real Jimmy. You know, the one that needs special treatment, takes forty games off, and has nights when he seems listless and disinterested while making around 54 million. Golden State will rue the day.
i was really encouraged by wiggy last few games .dude was a ss.looked smooth as silk.hope he can keep this up to a degree.with him ty bam ware thats 4 above average players.rest of team below average unfort.theres some dynamic pgs in college we gotta get one.and then fill roster out with 2 wayers.anybody w/o athleticism need not apply for job.
From your mouth to Pats ears. There is sometimes a big price to pay for one way players. When you sign them there is often no exit strategy as nobody wants them. They are undervalued league wide and usually for good reason.
You know who has a nice collection of them, better than ours, the Bulls. We are no longer, with the Jazz, the only havens for these types. But, unlike us and the Jazz, the Bulls have been winning some games lately. Josh Giddy is a particularly good one way player.
And my Zach Collin’s, who I lamented about not getting a fair chance about two months ago, has been doing pretty decent as a back up for them.
Finally, I read a great article on tanking and why particularly tanking in basketball is so huge and getting huger. In no other team sport can one player make such a huge difference. History shows that most NBA championship MVP’s are first thru number three picks. Two notable exceptions (there are only three exceptions), are Nowitzki and Jokic. Both were grossly undervalued on draft day. Perhaps, that gives some insight into why Pat seems to go after these players, to try to pick up a bargain when drafting after the first ten picks. But, as our history shows, it doesn’t often work out.
One more thing. Tyler Herro got treated like chopped liver by the league and keeps having to reprove himself every night. He can go for 27 or so for four out of five games, and then an Amen Thompson will blow by him and show the limitations of Ty’s incredible athleticism and people think we can’t win with Ty again. We can win with Ty as a contributor. Ty can’t be our best player, our number one option, or play point, but we can definitely win with him as a complimentary big part of the Heat. He gets treated unfairly sometimes,,exactly like I am describing above. There, I had my say.
Herro has been having problems lately because teams have been zeroing in on him defensively since Butler is gone and Wiggins has not been playing every game. Now with Wiggins back in the line-up and being more assertive, it will not be as easy for teams to focus on Herro. If the Heat had a third scorer (for example at PG) Herro would get even more open looks. As I’ve stated previously, Herro, Wiggins and Bam would make very good 2-4 scorers.
Thanks to both you and SM for challenging this myth that Herro is not a valuable player. He has such a great array of moves and shots that there is no doubt he can be part of a championship level team. Plus, his defense has improved. I don’t think he’s even average defensively, but more often than not, he moves his feet well and keeps his man in front of him.
I also strongly agree that we have a good 2, 3, 4, 5 core, but nobody who is close to a #1 option. Get one of those through the draft or trade and we will be back in the conversation.
Thanks RC. There is a light at the end of the tunnel…and it isn’t an oncoming train. The team will be OK. It needs a high scoring two-way player and a good two-way pass first/play making PG, if possible. If we can find one player that fills both needs, that would be great.