A passive Jimmy Butler showed up in his highly-anticipated return in Miami as the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors fell in an embarrassing 112-86 loss to the Heat.
Butler made a candid admission following the loss in Miami where he only scored 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting and was minus-19 in 29 minutes.
“We definitely need 30 back,” Butler told reporters. “But we want him to be right. We’re still expected to win. We got to put out a better effort than we have the last two games. If he’s back, I think it’ll be different.”
Curry joined the Warriors in Miami but did not play even after he was upgraded to questionable.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said they did not want to throw caution in the wind despite Curry looking good in the team’s practice.
“He wasn’t quite there, we just can’t risk it,” Kerr told reporters. “He worked out yesterday and he looked good but at the very end of the workout, one movement that he made that didn’t quite feel right.”
Curry’s absence took another toll on the Warriors, who struggled offensively against the Heat. Their 88 points was their lowest since scoring 85 in a 30-point beating at the hands of the defending champion Boston Celtics on Jan. 20.
Jimmy Butler Stayed Away From Warriors Hotel in Miami
Butler was supposed to cushion the impact of Curry’s absence but he wasn’t ready to face his former team.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic reported that Butler did not stay with the Warriors in their team hotel.
“As he did occasionally with the Miami Heat — in an arrangement permitted early in his time with the organization and grumbled about later — Butler will not stay at the team hotel during the Warriors’ four-day stop in Miami this week. It’s a rare in-season chance for him to spend extended time away from the arena with his three young children, who live there, so he’s staying somewhere with more space and privacy,” Slater wrote.
Tuesday’s loss was their second straight since Curry went down with a pelvic contusion. They are 7-5 overall without Curry this season and 1-2 in games they have Butler.
The Heat jumped to a 9-2 start and the Warriors didn’t recover.
“Probably the effort coming out of the jump,” Butler said of what the Warriors should do to get back on the winning track. “We’ve got to guard a little better. Seems like as of late everyone’s been scoring at will at the rim, in the mid, at the three, getting to the free-throw line. We’ve gotten away from what got us a couple of wins.”
Steph Curry Coming to the Rescue?
With 10 games left, the Warriors suddenly find themselves in danger of falling into the play-in group after climbing all the way from 11th to sixth seed after Butler’s arrival. Following the loss, the Warriors only hold a half-game edge over the seventh-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
Kerr said they expect Curry to return on Friday, March 28, against the New Orleans Pelicans.
“Knowing the schedule, when we have got the next two days off, I think it will be a full week when he returns,” Kerr said.
The 37-year-old Curry is averaging 24.2 points, 6.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds this season while shooting 39.4% from the 3-point line.
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