MIAMI — Both before and after the Warriors’ loss Tuesday night to the Heat, Jimmy Butler said he thanked all of his teammates.
For supporting him in such a big game against his former franchise, sure. But also…
“Because we need every win we can get right now for this playoff push we will be making,” said Butler, tucked in the corner of the Heat’s visiting locker room behind a gaggle of reporters and cameras.
The Warriors came up short in the Kaseya Center. Heat fans booed Butler every time he touched the ball as he shot 5-for-12 in a game the Warriors never led. An impressively locked-in Heat defense held Golden State to 24% shooting from 3 and its second-lowest scoring output of the season.
The loss sank Golden State to 41-31. With 10 games left, the Warriors’ grip on sixth place is slipping. They’ve dropped a pair to begin their ongoing six-game road trip, with Steph Curry trending toward a return from his pelvic contusion for their next game at New Orleans on Friday.
That one, against a resurgent Zion Williamson, was already in the Warriors’ sights even just moments after the final horn.
“I think Friday, Friday’s the biggest game of the year for us,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “We’ve lost two games in a row, very poor performances. It’s time, we’ve got to bounce back. That’s what good teams do and I’m confident that we’ll do that.”
Earlier in the season, Draymond Green shut down Williamson in one of his signature defensive performances of a masterful season on that end. But he admitted that he has to get himself charged up for the Warriors to snap back into it defensively, even — and perhaps especially — against less talented opponents.
“We got to come out and play well,” Green said. “Lost two in a row. You don’t want it to spiral. This is the wrong time of the year to let something spiral. We’ve got to come out, get this road trip moving in the right direction.”
As the Warriors bricked 3-pointer after 3-pointer against the Heat— their starters missed 14 straight to start the game — a graphic flashed on the telecast. It showed that with Curry, the Warriors rank sixth in offensive rating. Without him, they’re dead last.
The Warriors started this trip without Curry, who suffered a pelvic contusion last week in the fourth quarter against the Raptors. They struggled to slow down Trae Young and the Hawks before getting run out of Butler’s former gym.
It was a missed opportunity to create some breathing space in the standings between the Timberwolves and Clippers, who each have likewise dropped recent games. Instead, a half-game separates the Warriors from a series and the play-in round.
Kerr said he believes the format — which started in the 2019-20 season — has created a shadow playoff race in March and April.
“It’s basically generated a playoff race within the playoff race since the day it started,” Kerr said. “I haven’t loved it because we’ve been on the wrong end of it — we’re 0-3 in these play-in games. You finish in the top eight, you feel like you should be in the playoffs. On the other hand, it’s been great for the league.”
Butler didn’t lament losing to his former team as much as he did losing in general. His chapter with the Heat is over, and a new one in Golden State has just begun. The Warriors are 16-4 with him in the lineup, even after the shellacking.
But with 10 games left in the season, this new chapter has a chance to be more abbreviated than its potential.
“We just realize how important every single game is,” Butler said. “The opportunity that we do have in front of us, just got to get healthy and get right.”