The China Mail - Heat scorch Warriors on Butler's return

Butler, who was traded away to Golden State in February after a series of bust-ups with the Heat management, finished with just 11 points as the Warriors offense struggled to click.

Instead it was Miami who dominated from the outset, grabbing the lead early on before coasting to a wire-to-wire victory.

Butler, who played six seasons in Miami and was a talismanic figure in the team's run to the NBA Finals in 2020, was given a video tribute before the game started.

Although there were scattered boos in the Kaseya Center crowd, Butler was greeted largely positively on his return.

"This was a huge part of my career so I continue to say that I'm very grateful," Butler said. "I ain't spiteful towards nobody."

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said his team had not used Butler's presence in the opposition line-up as a motivating factor.

"The energy in the building was great," Spoelstra said.

"We didn't do any extra motivational speech leading up into this -- it was more about us staying the course with our process."

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Miami had been ready for his team.

"People don’t ever seem too amped up around here," Kerr said of the atmosphere. "It really wasn't that rabid an environment. It was typical Miami. The main part of Jimmy's return is that the Heat were ready.

"And Spo (Spoelstra) had them ready. It was about how hard they played and how well they competed. They took it to us."

- Thunder, Cavs march on -

Miami improved to 31-41 with the victory to remain in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and on course for the play-in tournament.

The Warriors fell to 41-31 and are in sixth place in the West, just ahead of the seventh-placed Los Angeles Clippers (40-31).

In other games, the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with a 121-105 road win over the Sacramento Kings in northern California.

NBA Most Valuable Player contender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 32 points, seven rebounds and five assists as Oklahoma brought up their 60th win of the season.

"It's a testament to our hard work," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "There's a lot more work to be done. We haven't done anything. We haven't achieved half of our goals yet."

Oklahoma City have already secured top spot in the Western Conference and are aiming to close out their regular season campaign by clinching the best overall record in the league.

In the race for second place in the West, the Houston Rockets remain in pole position after a battling 121-114 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Jalen Green led the Rockets with 32 points.

In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers extended their lead at the top of the standings with a 122-111 defeat of the Portland Trail Blazers, improving to 58-14.

B.Clarke--ThChM