The Jimmy Butler two-show Florida reunion tour kicks off Tuesday night when the former Miami Heat standout takes center stage as the Golden State Warriors visit the Orlando Magic.
Dealt early last February from the Heat to the Warriors, Butler joined Golden State in time for both its visits to Florida last season, which came on separate Southeast excursions.
The first of the two saw him play a complementary role in new teammate Stephen Curry’s 56-point explosion in a 121-115 win at Orlando in late February. Butler had only five points in the game but tied Brandin Podziemski for game-high assist honors with seven.
Four of Butler’s assists came on Curry 3-pointers as the all-time distance-shooting king buried 12 in all, including four in a 22-point third-quarter flurry.
Butler assisted on two of the third-quarter threes then a last one that extended Golden State’s lead to 111-104 lead with 2:37 to go.
Butler himself inflicted pain upon the Magic many times during his days with the Heat, going for 20 or more points on five separate occasions, including 38 in a visit in March of 2023. He has 358 points, 93 assists and 43 steals in games at Orlando in his career.
Golden State visits Miami on the second night of a back-to-back on Wednesday.
Butler took time after his last visit to Orlando to describe Curry’s impact on the Warriors.
“It makes everyone want to be great on the defensive side,” he told reporters after the game, “so we can get him the ball back and watch him do something incredible. In a weird way, isn’t it kind of expected?”
Curry had 46 and 49 points last week when the Warriors, after falling at Oklahoma City, rebounded with a pair of victories at San Antonio. They then won a third in a row Sunday at New Orleans, riding Moses Moody’s 32 points to a 124-106 win.
The Orlando visit is a reunion of sorts for Moody as well. He played his final two prep seasons at Montverde Academy near Orlando, where he joined Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham and Day’Ron Sharpe on a 25-0 club in 2020.
The Magic has won three of their last four, seeing a winning streak come to an end in a 117-113 overtime loss at Houston on Sunday night.
The head-to-head with Golden State will be the first for Desmond Bane since he was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies via trade in June. He’s averaged 22.3 points over the last four games, connecting on multiple 3-pointers in each of the last three.
Bane faced the Warriors 22 times during his days with Memphis, including in the 2022 playoffs, when he outshot Curry 48.5% to 32.9% on 3-pointers in the Grizzlies’ 4-2 loss to the eventual champs in the Western semifinals.
With star Paolo Banchero out for a second straight game with a groin injury, Bane found the ball in his hands with a chance to play hero at the end of regulation at Houston. However, he had his driving attempt blocked by Alperen Sengun with five seconds left and later wished he had it to do over again.
“Something that we’ve talked about — getting the last shot of the game. I went a little bit too fast,” he admitted to reporters. “We had our opportunities. Hopefully we learn from those moments and become better because of it.”
–Field Level Media
