Heat roll past Warriors in Butler's return to South Beach
MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo scored 27 points, Tyler Herro scored 20 and the Miami Heat spoiled Jimmy Butler’s return game with a one-sided 112-86 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Alec Burks scored 18 for Miami, which never trailed. The Heat were 17 for 25 from 3-point range.
Butler, in his first game back in Miami since a trade last month, had 11 points. Jonathan Kuminga scored 15, Brandin Podziemski had 14 and Gui Santos scored 13 for Golden State.
The Warriors played without Stephen Curry, held out for a second straight game with a pelvic contusion.
Takeaways
Warriors: Golden State never led for only the fifth time this season, and the Heat became the second team this season to hold a 20-point lead on the Warriors in multiple games. The other is Cleveland.
Heat: Nikola Jovic, who has missed Miami’s last 16 games over the last four weeks with a broken bone in his right hand, has gotten clearance for all basketball activities. That means he could return at any time, but didn't play Tuesday.
Key moment
This is how good a night it was for Miami: Ware had the ball knocked away as he went airborne on a drive in the third quarter, caught the ball and — all before landing — flicked it over his shoulder, off the glass and in for a 78-60 lead in the third quarter.
Key stat
All five Golden State starters — Butler, Gary Payton II, Draymond Green, Moses Moody and Podziemski — had exactly two points at halftime. It was the first time an NBA team had no starter score three points in a first half since New Jersey against Orlando on March 16, 2012.
Up next
Golden State visits New Orleans on Friday. Miami closes its homestand Thursday against Atlanta.
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