In a crucial game the Heat faced the Pacers, or should I say Jimmy faced Warren. This matchup was in the waiting since January, ever since the TJ Warren and Jimmy Butler beef. Which after the last matchup Butler said to Warren that he was “soft” and “not in his f***king league.” 

After Warren got ejected in their last matchup and Jimmy kissed him goodbye. Butler was excited for the next matchup against the Pacers and showed that circling their next matchup on Instagram, which got delayed to August 10th. Leading up to the game, Warren had been the clear Bubble MVP. Warren is averaging 34.8 points per game to lead all scorers in Orlando and has become dangerous from deep. Warren has a career 36 percent from behind the arc rarely shooting more than five 3s a game, however, he’s averaging four made threes for each game on 55 percent shooting in the bubble. Given these phenomenal stats, sports fans became intrigued in this Butler, Warren beef.

Leading up to this game social media was buzzing around these two superstars. Some people thought Warren would outplay Butler coming off a minor injury. 

The first half was extremely competitive, with Warren and Butler both playing their roles with Warren scoring twelve points in a tie game at the half. The Pacers were starting to struggle and when they needed Warren the most, he vanished. Butler had completely worn him out in the second half, leading him to shoot 5-14 with a bare 12 points for the game. Warren clearly hadn’t been put to the test of pressure at high stakes in a crucial game to take the 4 seed. Butler and the Miami Heat social media both celebrated the win with the Heat changing its Twitter profile picture to Jimmy Butler blowing Warren a kiss. The Heat ended up running away with this one in a 114-92 blowout, with Butler clamping Warren for most of the night. The Heat will face the Thunder next to close in on the 4 seed even more.

TJ Warren and Jimmy Butler have had it with each other and now with the stakes at an all-time high, it’s showtime. The Miami Heat has had fun with the drama but now it’s time to get serious. Inside the bubble, the Heat and the Pacers faced each other twice; the first being a blowout and the second being a game that the rotation of the lineup did not consist of each team’s best players. One crucial takeaway from the second game was that Derrick Jones Jr was taken off the court on a stretcher. The Miami Heat announced he suffered a neck sprain and will be looked at over the weekend. 

In the past, the Heat have won all three games in all seriousness with doing the second and third in ease.