Five takeaways from the Miami Heat’s 135-112 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday night at Chase Center to begin a five-game West Coast trip. The Heat is right back at it on Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center (10 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun) to complete the back-to-back set:
Ex-Heat and current Warriors forward Jimmy Butler was off to strong start against his former team on Monday, but he left the game afer suffering a right knee injury in the third quarter. The Heat couldn’t take advantage, collapsing down the stretch.
Butler, who was traded to the Warriors this past February after an ugly breakup with the Heat, went down holding his right knee after landing awkwardly while trying to catch a pass in the paint with 7:41 left in the third quarter. Butler remained down on the court for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room and never returning because of a right knee injury.
Butler was on his way to a standout night against his former team, totaling 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 21 minutes before exiting Monday’s contest in the third quarter.
The Warriors also entered Monday’s game withour Draymond Green because of a sprained ankle, and Stephen Curry battle foul trouble for most of the night.
But instead of folding, the Warriors blew open the game after Butler’s departure.
The Warriors were ahead 77-75 when Butler left the game, and they closed the period on a 27-18 run after Butler’s exit to enter the fourth quarter with an 11-point lead.
The Warriors only added on to their lead in the fourth quarter, pulling ahead by as many as 24 points in the period on the way to the 23-point win.
It was a competitive first half that included 11 lead changes and four ties, but the Warriors entered halftime with a 70-66 lead behind 10 made threes in the first two quarters. But the Heat never led in the second half.
The Warriors shot 24 of 51 (47.1 percent) on threes, dominating the Heat 72-39 from behind the arc on Monday. Miami shot just 13 of 45 (28.9 percent) from three-point range.
Brandin Podziemski led the Warriors with a season-high 24 points off the bench.
Curry added 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting form three-point range and 11 assists for the Warriors.
Norman Powell totaled a team-high 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, 2-of-7 shooting from deep and 5-of-6 shooting from the foul line for the Heat in the loss.
Kel’el Ware (15 points, four rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes) and Simone Fontecchio (13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals) provided quality contributions off the Heat’s bench. But the Warriors’ reserves still outscored the Heat’s bench 66-53 behind Podziemski’s big night.
Monday marked the Warriors’ first win over the Heat in three matchups since last season’s Butler trade.
While starting guard Tyler Herro remained out because of a rib injury, the Heat got starting guard Davion Mitchell and top reserve Jaime Jaquez Jr. back.
Mitchell, who missed the last two games with a left shoulder contusion, was back in the Heat’s starting lineup on Monday. He totaled seven points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 shooting on threes, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in 25 minutes.
“Just a lot of work in the weight room, trying to get that range of motion back,” Mitchell said of what it took to get back o the court. “Especially the first couple days, I couldn’t really raise my arm. So I always had to get that strengthening back and that feeling back, but I feel a lot better.”
Jaquez, who missed the last two games with a left knee sprain, retrurned to his usual sixth man role to record 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting on threes, five rebounds and nine assists on Monday.
“A lot of rehab, work in the pool, just everything I can to make sure my leg is where it needs to be,” Jaquez said of the road back to game action.
But the Heat again was without Herro, who did not travel with the team to San Francisco and missed his second straight game on Monday with a rib injury. An MRI on Herro revealed a costochondral issue (joints where ribs connect to cartilage) with the right side of his ribs, and he’s unlikely to join the team during its current five-game trip.
Monday marked the 32nd game that Herro has missed through the Heat’s first 43 games this season because of various injuries. He missed the first 17 games of the season due to offseason ankle surgery, 13 games because of a toe contusion and now at least two games because of a rib contusion.
With Herro out and Mitchell back, the Heat went with a starting lineup of Mitchell, Norman Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Pelle Larsson and Bam Adebayo on Monday. It marks the fourth game this season that Miami has used this starting group.
The Heat then went with a bench rotation of Jaquez, Ware, Fontecchio and Kasparas Jakucionis against the Warriors before emptying the bench late in the lopsided defeat.
Along with missing Herro, the Heat was without Vlad Goldin (G League), Terry Rozier (not with team) and Jahmir Young (G League) on Monday.
Among those available for the Heat who didn’t get into the game until the final minutes of the rout were Dru Smith, Nikola Jovic, Myron Gardner and Keshad Johnson.
The Warriors were without Green (right ankle sprain), Seth Curry (left sciatic nerve irritation), De’Anthony Melton (left knee injury management) and Gui Santos (left ankle sprain) against the Heat. Golden State then lost Butler in the third quarter.
Almost a year after the Warriors traded Wiggins to the Heat last February, Wiggins returned to play in his former home arena for the first time.
Wiggins has already played against the Warriors twice since the trade, but both of those games came in Miami. Monday marked the first time since the move that Wiggins played the Warriors in San Francisco, and the first time he has faced the Warriors in San Francisco since Dec. 23, 2019.
Wiggins turned in a solid performance in his return to his former NBA home, finishing the loss with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-7 shooting on threes, five rebounds and one assist.
But Wiggins scored each of his 18 points in the first half, as he was held scoreless in the second half.
The Warriors played a tribute video for Wiggins just before Monday’s game, and he received a loud ovation from the Chase Center crowd.
“Just excitement,” Wiggins said of returning to Chase Center. “Seeing familiar faces, a familiar place, a place I once called home. So, it’s fun to be back and excited about it.”
Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, spent parts of six seasons with the Warriors before being traded to the Heat midway through last season. As a member of the Warriors, Wiggins was voted into the 2022 NBA All-Star Game as a starter and went on to log the second-most minutes for Golden State during the 2022 playoff run that ended in an NBA championship.
“We know it’s important to him,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Monday’s game when asked about Wiggins’ return to Bay Area. “He had some great moments here, particularly during that championship run. And he’ll be received great, as he should, here in this building. So we’re just grateful that we have him.
“He’s been doing so much for us on both ends of the court. I think as a complete game and all the responsibilities, you can make a case, this is the best that he’s played in his career because of all those responsibilities he has for us.”
Adebayo struggled to make shots just hours after being named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
Adebayo finished Monday’s loss with just four points on 1-of-13 shooting from the field, 0-of-5 shooting from three-point range and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, 12 rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes.
Adebayo missed his first 11 shots, before making his first field goal of the night with 10:59 left in the third quarter.
This comes after Adebayo averaged 27 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and one steal per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 13 of 23 (56.5 percent) from three-point range over his previous three games to be named the East Player of the Week
Monday’s honor marked the third Player of the Week award that Adebayo has received during his NBA career. It’s his first Player of the Week honor since January 2024.
Monday marked the start of a challenging and busy week for the Heat on the West Coast.
Monday not only marked the start of a back-to-back set, but it also marked the start of a seven-day stretch that includes five games. In other words, the Heat will complete this five-game West Coast trip in seven days.
“It’s the life that we live in the NBA,” Mitchell said.
It began with Monday’s loss, and it continues Tuesday against the Kings in Sacramento and Thursday against the Trail Blazers to Portland. The trip then ends with the Heat’s second back-to-back of the week — Saturday against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City and Sunday against the Suns in Phoenix.
“We’re going to have to embrace the grind,” Adebayo said. “We understand it’s going to be a little hectic. But road trips are like this. And when the team really bonds together, really gel together, we start seeing what we can become.”