Adebayo, Heat roll to 112-86 rout, as Warriors, Butler go bust

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Mar 25, 2025

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MIAMI — Erik Spoelstra began the night by insisting the night had to be about his team, not the sideshow of a former disgruntled player being back in town.

So the Miami Heat made it about both.

Combining stifling defense with stout 3-point shooting, the Heat further distanced themselves from the 10-game losing streak that was snapped Sunday, with a second consecutive victory.

The fact that the 112-86 decision Tuesday night at Kaseya Center came over the Golden State Warriors and Jimmy Butler made it all the more satisfying.

Taking advantage of the absence of sidelined Warriors guard Stephen Curry, the Heat placed their defensive focus on Butler and turned to team captain Bam Adebayo to orchestrate one of the most satisfying moments of an otherwise unfulfilling season.

Jeered on practically every touch after mostly receiving tepid applause during a pregame video tribute, Butler closed with 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

Given the keys to both the defense and offense, Adebayo contributed 27 points and eight rebounds, shooting 2 of 3 on 3-pointers as part of the Heat’s overall 17 of 25 from beyond the arc.

The Heat also got 20 points from Tyler Herro, 17 from Alec Burks and 14 points and 10 rebounds from Kel’el Ware.

The Warriors were led by the 15 points of Jonathan Kuminga.

The Heat, still in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, close out their five-game homestand Thursday night against the Atlanta Hawks, before leaving for a three-game trip to Philadelphia, Washington and Boston.

Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s game:

— 1. Game flow: The Heat led 28-22 after the first quarter and then went into halftime with a 57-40 lead after Herro converted a 3-pointer just before the second-quarter buzzer.

No Warriors starter had more than one basket in the first half, the lowest-scoring first half by Warriors starters since 2004.

The Heat then went up 20 in the third period, saw the deficit trimmed to eight, before going into the fourth up 83-70.

From there, the Heat again made it a 20-point game, going up 95-75 with 7:06 to play on a 29-foot Herro 3-pointer, with the Warriors shortly thereafter pulling their starters.

— 2. Bam v. Butler: There was no pretense about the Heat’s defensive focus, especially with Curry sidelined.

So from the outset, it was Adebayo defensively on Butler.

That had Butler 1 of 5 through his first two stints, with Haywood Highsmith also taking a turn on Butler. Butler stood 1 of 6 for two points at halftime.

Adebayo closed 9 of 18 from the field, quarterbacking the Heat defense when not shutting down Butler.

Butler closed with six rebounds and two assists.

— 3. Short again: Out of the mix for the Heat was Duncan Robinson, who had started five of the previous six games.

Robinson was downgraded pregame from his listing of questionable, dealing with lower-back pain.

Asked if it was similar to a previous back issue that had sidelined Robinson, Spoelstra said, “He feels better today. I’m not going to go there mentally. I’m sure he doesn’t want to.”

The Heat also announced before the game that forward Nikola Jovic has resumed court work a month removed from his broken hand. No timetable was offered regarding a return.

Jovic no longer is wearing a brace or any protection on the hand.

— 4. Rotation revision: Even with Robinson out, Jaime Jaquez Jr. was shuffled out of the Heat mix and Terry Rozier remained out of the mix.

Jaquez had started four of the previous six games, but played only six minutes in Sunday night’s victory over the Hornets. He then entered only for the final four minutes Tuesday night.

Rozier has now been held out of the past four games and five of the past seven.

Instead, minutes went to Kyle Anderson, who had been held out of the previous three games and five of the previous seven.

— 5. Contributing factors: With Robinson out, Spoelstra turned to Burks, who already had tied season highs of five 3-pointers and 17 points by the midpoint of the third period, not needed thereafter.

In addition, even with the Warriors opening with a small lineup that had Draymond Green, Spoelstra stayed with size, with Ware closing with his fourth double-double in the last six games.