Ira Winderman: Cavaliers, Butler further create a sobering reality for Heat

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on May 6, 2025

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MIAMI — Just when you thought it could not get any more sobering for the Miami Heat, a week after a 55-point loss, it has gotten more sobering.

Jimmy Butler plays on.

And the Cleveland Cavaliers are not the invincible colossus they appeared through their record-setting first-round sweep of the Heat.

Even while on the sideline, bad has turned worse.

As we await Pat Riley to explain it all.

A week ago, as the Cavaliers were turning Kaseya Center into their comfort zone, the thought was that it simply was a case of the Heat running into the wrong team at the wrong time, one that would use the sweep as a runway to continued dominance.

And then, on Sunday, a thud, the Indiana Pacers pushing to an early double-digit lead on the well-rested Cavaliers and eventually closing out a 121-112 road victory over the same team that had kicked sand in the Heat’s face for over a week.

Yes, the Cavaliers are good.

But not as good as the Heat made them look.

Then, hours later, the Golden State Warriors took care of business on the road against the Houston Rockets in a Game 7, advancing to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

The upshot of that result from a Heat perspective? Jimmy Butler won.

He got his trade.

He got his extension.

He gets another opportunity to further distance himself from his Heat departure drama by advancing the notion of Playoff Jimmy.

The irony is that the next step for Butler comes against the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of several locations where his sabotage allowed him to create, in his own mind, salvation.

With the Heat, it reached the point where Butler made it privately known his intention was to never again play in Minnesota. Over his 5 1/2 seasons with the Heat, he suited up in Minnesota twice, once sitting out the Heat’s third game of the season for ... rest.

No matter, the NBA playoffs are about fashioning narratives, and the Butler narrative at the moment is one of standing as a support system for one final run at glory for Stephen Curry.

Everyone loves Stephen Curry.

So therefore everyone has to love anyone who uplifts Stephen Curry.

For a player who initially did everything he could to force his way to the Phoenix Suns, Butler now finds himself in a better place, advancing beyond the first round for the first time in three years.

With the Heat left to decide whether they will watch.

Based on the candor offered during exit interviews last week, it is doubtful many will. Perhaps Nikola Jovic, who was befriended by Butler (although with Jovic now back in Serbia, the time difference could be an issue). Perhaps Kevin Love, who had served as a locker-room (and social-media) buffer during the worst of times over Butler’s six weeks of Heat-ed petulance this season.

At Butler’s start with the Heat, the lasting vision of Riley was of fawning icon, leaning over a distant railing at the Disney pandemic bubble, cheering on his prime 2019 acquisition at the 2020 NBA Finals.

This time around, it is Warriors owner Joe Lacob, with similar sentiment — because it typically starts well with Butler.

“Yeah, there were (concerns about Butler),” Lacob told The Athletic, after the Warriors advanced on Sunday night. “But you do your analysis, you make your choices, and, yeah, it was a little bit of a risk. But we’ve got to take risks in this life. And he’s worth every freaking penny. That’s all I can say. He’s fantastic.”

So “fantastic” for Butler, as the Warriors play on.

And humbling for the Heat, as the Cavaliers prove to be something less than invincible.

In a season when bad (Butler’s brooding) turned to worse (a 10-game losing streak) for the Heat, the hits keep on coming.

After a sobering Sunday, as Butler trade acquisitions Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and Davion Mitchell move on to uncertain Heat futures, a ghost of Heat past continues to haunt.

And after a sobering Sunday, the only possible perspective on the Heat’s decimation a week ago by the Cavaliers is that Erik Spoelstra’s team is not even close.

A week later, bad feels even worse.

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