Jimmy Butler reveals biggest problem with Warriors after Heat blowout
03/26/2025 01:54 AM
Jimmy Butler’s first return to Kaseya Center to face the Miami Heat as a member of the Golden State Warriors could not have gone any further from plan. The Warriors, still missing Stephen Curry due to a pelvic injury, were laughed off the court by the Heat, suffering one of their worst losses of the season in a 112-86 defeat.
The two games Curry has missed thus far with his current injury haven’t gone smoothly whatsoever for the Warriors. Curry is the heart of the Warriors’ offense, and he was sorely missed on Tuesday night as the Dubs scuffled on that end of the floor to the tune of 39.8 percent shooting from the field and 23.7 percent from beyond the arc. Even Butler himself was lackluster, dropping just 11 points on 5-12 shooting in a purported revenge game.
But for Butler, the biggest point of improvement for the Warriors in the coming games should come at the defensive end, as he urged his team to set a better tone defensively from the beginning of ballgames.
“[What we need to improve is] probably the effort coming out of the jump. We've got to guard a little bit better. Seems like as of late everyone's been scoring at will at the rim, getting to the free-throw line. We've gotten away from what got us a couple wins,” Butler told reporters after the Warriors’ loss, via KNBR.
"Probably the effort coming out of the jump. We've got to guard a little bit better. Seems like as of late everyone's been scoring at will at the rim, getting to the FT line. We've gotten away from what got us a couple wins."
Jimmy Butler on what needs to change for Warriors pic.twitter.com/MCH7ERjKqj
— KNBR (@KNBR) March 26, 2025
Defense has indeed been a sore spot for the Warriors in their defeats to the Heat and Atlanta Hawks over the past few days. After allowing the Hawks to shoot 57 percent from the field in their loss on Saturday, they proceeded to let the Heat, a team that has struggled to score the ball, make 55.8 percent of their attempts from the floor and shoot a scorching hot 68 percent from deep.
Warriors have golden opportunity to finish week strong
The good news for the Warriors is that they can get right back to winning ways on Friday, as they will have a game against the New Orleans Pelicans — a team that is sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. More questions will be asked of them if they trip up on a banana peel yet again and fail to take care of business against a lowly Pelicans that could be without Zion Williamson for that game.
After the Pelicans game, the Warriors will be facing a San Antonio Spurs team without Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox. Those are golden opportunities for the Warriors to rectify whatever it is that’s ailing their defense.
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