Heat explain Butler confrontation during loss to Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Miami Heat have the best record (47-26) in the Eastern Conference, but they haven’t looked like an elite team during their last two games, both losses to the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers on Monday and to the Warriors on Wednesday night.
During Miami’s 118-104 loss to the Warriors at FTX Arena, Jimmy Butler was seen getting into a heated discussion with coach Erik Spoelstra and veteran big man Udonis Haslem. The incident occurred early in the third quarter after Golden State went on an incredible 19-0 run.
Cameras in the arena caught the entire argument, with players and coaches having to separate Butler from Spoelstra on several occasions.
After the game, Spoelstra initially tried to make light of the situation before explaining what happened.
“Everybody was wondering where the dinner plans were tonight after the game,” Spoelstra told reporters after the game. “It was pretty clear. We have a very competitive, gnarly group and we were getting out asses kicked and it’s two straight games we’re not playing to the level we want to play. I’d say virtually every single person in that huddle was pretty animated about our disappointment in how we were playing.”
The Warriors had a similar incident happen in the public eye when Draymond Green and Kevin Durant got into an argument late in a game against the LA Clippers during the 2018-19 season. That altercation festered with the Warriors for a while, but Spoelstra isn’t concerned the same thing will happen with the East-leading Heat.
“It won’t,” Spoelstra said. “We have bigger things to accomplish but we do want to play better and everything has to be better across the board. It starts with our leadership, our veteran players have to lead. And then we just have to play better, play better to our identity, play more consistently and that’s really all the discussion is worth. I know how it can probably look to the outside but as I’ve mentioned before, that is more our language than playing without passion, without toughness or without multiple effort and a lifelessness. Everything that happened in that huddle from there on after we cut the 19-point lead was way more to our personality.”
While the Heat haven’t played up to their standard this week, Spoelstra was quick to praise Jordan Poole, the Warriors’ young guard who has taken a giant step in his development this year.
With Steph Curry out due to injury and Draymond Green and Klay Thompson resting, Poole scored a game-high 30 points in the Warriors’ win on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and 7-of-13 from 3-point range. He also dished out nine assists and grabbed four rebounds.
“Let’s give credit to Golden State,” Spoelstra said. “We played with great passion and everything to get back into the game but they executed well and they made some big shots. Poole has really improved with his handles, his ability to step back behind screens and shoot, his movement, all of that is improved. [Andrew] Wiggins had some really tough plays in the fourth. They just executed and made some plays to hold us off.”
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Veteran guard Kyle Lowry, in his first season with the Heat, also isn’t concerned about the incident causing issues within Miami’s locker room.
“It’s crazy but it’s passion,” Lowry said. “We’re in a situation where we have a lot of competitive guys and one of our biggest competitors is our coach, Jimmy and UD, tough competitive guys. It’s good sometimes to get some anger and frustration out and just talk about it. We’re going to have situations that make people uncomfortable. At the end of the day, as long as we’re comfortable and we figure it out, that’s all that really matters.”
It’s unlikely that the kerfuffle on Wednesday will derail Miami’s season, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on over the final nine games of the regular season and heading into the playoffs in April.