No hard feelings, Warriors star Jimmy Butler says, as he prepares for his first game back in Miami

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No hard feelings, Warriors star Jimmy Butler says, as he prepares for his first game back in Miami

2025-03-25 03:35 Last Updated At：23:41

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (AP) — Jimmy Butler has been through these first-game-back matchups against former teams before. He got a standing ovation and a tribute video at Chicago in 2018. He got jeered in Minnesota in 2019. He got downright booed in his return to Philadelphia later that year.

Next up: His return to Miami on Tuesday.

And it's fair to expect a little of everything.

There will be a tribute video from the Heat, which is not uncommon for returning players who were All-Stars for the franchise. There almost certainly will be a thunderous introduction when his name is called alongside the rest of Golden State's starters. There will be some cheering. There will be plenty of booing. It all is to be expected, especially after Butler's final weeks in Miami were marred by three suspensions that preceded his trade to the Warriors last month.

“There are no hard feelings,” Butler said Monday after the Warriors practiced at Barry University. “I'm in a better place now for me.”

He wanted out, and the Heat eventually gave him his wish. The Warriors are 16-3 with Butler in the lineup, enough of a boost to help them claw out of play-in-tournament range for now and give them a chance at securing a guaranteed playoff berth with a top-6 seed. Butler seems happier and the Warriors are playing better, so it's been a clear win for Golden State.

Miami just snapped a 10-game losing streak. The Heat, who are likely resigned to the play-in tournament as their path to the postseason, are still adjusting to Life After Jimmy.

“Obviously there’ll be a lot of different feelings about it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Butler's return to Miami. "I probably won’t express all of them and that’s fair. But we had a great five-year run and we didn’t win the title. But only one team does. We had some great moments here.”

The Heat went to the Eastern Conference finals three times in the Butler era, made the NBA Finals twice and won 268 games, including playoffs, in his first five seasons with the club — the fifth most in the league over that span. But when he didn't get offered an extension last summer, the relationship began splintering. He was suspended three times for various violations of team rules and wasn't shy about making clear that he felt like a change of scenery was necessary. The Heat said they wouldn't trade him, then had no choice but to change course.

The Warriors made the offer that got the deal done, and suddenly they look like title contenders again.

“It’s been amazing. He’s of the best players in the league. He’s instantly transformed our team," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "We’re 16-4 since we got him. He’s a very unique talent. He’s a superstar, but he’s a subtle superstar. He doesn’t wow you with his leaping ability or shooting prowess or speed. It’s just his brute strength and his brain. He is one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around, and his ability to just generate open shot after open shot is impressive, and he’s obviously a great two-way player. He’s a hell of a defender. We’re lucky to have him.”

For the record, Butler's teams have gone 1-2 in the Jimmy-goes-back games in his career. Minnesota lost 114-113 at Chicago on Feb. 9, 2018, Philadelphia won 118-109 at Minnesota on March 30, 2019 and Miami lost 113-86 at Philadelphia on Nov. 23, 2019.

Butler insists that to him, Tuesday will be just another day.

“This is basketball. It’s very simple," Butler said. “I don’t have all the emotions that everybody thinks I’m going to have. It is what it is. I realize we had some great years here. I’ve built some incredible bonds with some individuals in the organization, in the city, hell, in the state of Florida. But I’m going in to hoop. I’m going in to play basketball.”

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Lauren Betts is nearly perfect to lead UCLA past Ole Miss 76-62 and into Elite Eight

2025-03-29 13:39 Last Updated At：13:42

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Lauren Betts was so dominant inside that she barely missed, scoring 31 points on 15-of-16 shooting to lead UCLA past Mississippi 76-62 on Friday night and sending the Bruins to the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018.

The 6-foot-7 Betts added 10 rebounds and three blocks for the No. 1 overall seed, which will face LSU on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four. The Tigers beat N.C. State 80-73 earlier Friday.

UCLA coach Cori Close called Betts a “generational player.”

“She’s not only dominant for herself, but she makes everybody on the floor better. And so you just want to put the ball in her hands as many ways and as many times as possible,” Close said.

Kiki Rice added 13 points and seven assists and was the only other player in double figures for the Bruins (32-2).

Tameiya Sadler scored 14 points for the fifth-seeded Rebels (22-10), who had reached the Elite Eight five times, but not since 2007.

Betts had a similar line — 30 points and 14 rebounds — in the Bruins' second-round 84-67 victory over Richmond.

“We’ve worked so hard to get here and I’m just so proud of the selflessness,” Betts said. “I think that to get to this point, it doesn’t matter who’s having their best game, it’s just getting wins at the end of the day. It took a lot of grit from everybody tonight, but I’m so proud of this program.”

Betts is one of just three players to have multiple games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the tournament in the last 25 seasons.

Ole Miss beat Baylor on its home floor to reach the Sweet 16 for the second time in the past three years. In 2023, the Rebels upset Stanford in the second round before falling to Louisville.

“When I look at the season, no one wanted us here, and no one thought we would be here. And we’re still here," Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “We got this far, but unfortunately, we ran into a tough team tonight and did not prevail. But at the end of the day, we will continue to build."

Betts' layup put the Bruins ahead 19-10 in the opening quarter, but Ole Miss closed within 21-19 on KK Deans' jumper.

Deans' fast-break layup at the end of the first half got the Rebels within 30-29 at the break.

The Bruins opened the second half with an 8-0 run and went up 45-33 on Londynn Jones' 3-pointer.

Gabriela Jaquez was all alone on a fast-break layup that put UCLA up 63-46 in the final quarter, and Ole Miss never threatened after that.

UCLA’s only two losses this season came against JuJu Watkins and Southern California before the Bruins got their revenge in the Big Ten Tournament final, beating USC 72-67.

“Honestly, I feel like ever since our loss to SC, I’ve just completely changed my mindset going forward. I think just being aggressive, no matter what, and doing whatever I need to do to help my team and just continuing to be positive regardless of what happens,” Betts said.

The Trojans will also play in Spokane, facing Kansas State on Saturday. It will be their first full game without Watkins, who tore the ACL in her right knee during the first quarter of a 96-59 second-round victory over Mississippi State.

There were not enough superlatives for Betts' performance. She scored 16 of UCLA's 30 first-half points, the second time this season that she's scored more than half of the Bruins' points in a half.

She finished the game with a plus-23 rating, the highest of any player. And the Big Ten's defensive player of the year now has 93 blocks this season.

Last year, UCLA lost to LSU 78-69 in the Sweet 16. Now the Bruins have a chance at revenge.

“We expected to be in this position and it’ll be a good opportunity for all of us who were on the team last year because LSU’s the team that knocked us out,” Rice said. “So obviously want to come out, play hard and play really well against them.”

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