Jimmy Butler vs. T.J. Warren: Butler, Heat dominate Pacers

The most anticipated matchup in the NBA happens at 8:00 p.m. ET on Monday night. No it isn’t Bucks-Raptors, no it isn’t Lakers-Nuggets, no it isn’t a rerun of the Bachelor or whatever.

JIMMY BUTLER.

T.J. WARREN.

PACERS.

HEAT.

Let’s go baby!

the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat will give us the renewed rivalry of Butler and Warren inside the NBA bubble in Orlando. It’s the first time the two teams are facing each other since the memorable beef back on that fateful night, January 8th, 2020. Butler and Warren got into it. Words were exchanged. Warren was tossed. The Heat won. After the game, Butler called Warren “trash” and “not even in my f**king league.”

Well, if Butler has been watching Warren these past two weeks, it’ll be hard to utter those statements again. This game has some playoff seeding implications. Though, the teams meet again on Friday to close out the seeding round. We’ll likely get at least 4 more games after that of Pacers-Heat as well. Here we’ll be tracking the Pacers-Heat, Butler-Warren rivalry game.

10:23 p.m. — There wasn’t much of a rivalry this time around, as Butler dominated throughout his team’s 114-92 victory. Jimmy Buckets finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. Warren didn’t rise to the occasion and notched 12 points with 5 rebounds.

10:01 p.m. — The Heat are up 95-75 with just under nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. It looks like this game might be out of reach for the Pacers at this point.

9:53 p.m. — Things are getting out of hand, as the Heat have a 14-point lead. The scoring is well distributed, and Butler leads all players with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists. Warren can’t keep up and still has 12 points and 3 rebounds.

9:37 p.m. — The Heat are pulling away and Butler has a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Warren’s still locked at 12 points and 3 boards. Malcolm Brogdon’s 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists have helped keep Indiana competitive.

9:07 p.m. — Good new! We’re seeing signs of life. Butler has 10 points, 9 rebounds and 2 shots with only one made field goal and is living at the line. Warren is up to a game-high 12 points with three rebounds. The score is 48-48 at the midway point, but there should be more offense on the way in the second half.

8:56 p.m. — Warren is stuck at 4 points and 2 rebounds while Butler has 6 points, 6 rebounds, and an assist. We need some real excitement before halftime.

8:51 p.m. — Goran Dragic has been a difference maker and is tied with Justin Holiday for a game-high 7 points. He also has 2 rebounds and 3 assists.

8:42 p.m. — Indiana went on a 10-2 run to end the quarter trailing 23-19. Hopefully things pick up in the second quarter and we get to see more of Warren and Butler going at each other.

8:34 p.m. — Butler is doing it all with 6 points, 5 rebounds, and an assist. Miami’s offense and defense are operating at a high level. Warren has had to work for his 4 points and 2 rebounds. He’s 2-for-7 from the field so far.

8:22 p.m. — Butler is out to a strong start coming back from injury and has 4 points and a rebound. Miami is making it difficult for Warren to catch the ball, but the bubble’s leading scorer was able to take advantage of a mismatch and drove on Goran Dragic to get his lone bucker of the game. He has 2 points and two rebounds so far.