A lot of things have changed since January 9, 2020, the night that the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers met up.
But one thing that hasn’t: NBA fans everywhere have been waiting for this rematch since then.
Let’s go back to that night: Heat star Jimmy Butler and Pacers wing T.J. Warren got into it after a foul, with Butler appearing to call Warren “trash.” Butler followed that up by putting a shoulder into Warren, who clapped back right in front of Butler and got ejected.
Butler then told reporters Warren was “soft” and “trash,” then took to Instagram to circle the next date they’d meet (which, as we now know, was rescheduled).
Jimmy Butler blows kisses to TJ Warren after getting him ejected 😂 pic.twitter.com/BOLudjTeCG
— ClutchPoints NBA (@ClutchPointsNBA) January 9, 2020
Jimmy Butler said this about TJ Warren a few months ago and now the league is done for pic.twitter.com/ZbmvJnWCER
— 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒆 🌩 (@Three_Cone) August 9, 2020
One other thing has changed, too. Warren has become the NBA Bubble MVP, exploding in the restart. So I’d expect Butler to have some extra incentive to play hard against him, not to mention the fact that both teams are fighting for playoff position — the Heat are currently the No. 4 seed, the Pacers are tied with them and the Sixers are one game behind them both.
And despite Butler missing the last three games with an injury, he plans to play in this one:
Jimmy Butler tells @NYTSports after Miami's loss to Phoenix that he is on course to play Monday against Indiana after missing the Heat's last three games with a foot injury
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 9, 2020
If he’s good to go, this is going to be a game to watch.
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