Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) directs teammates during the first half of an NBA game against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Miami, Florida. D.A. Varela [email protected]

Tuesday night was like having an encounter with your ex at a family or friend’s function.

The world knows the couple didn’t survive a rough patch, and subsequently broke up. Everyone’s watching to see how the former partners act around each other.

Mature people never want to see an ex doing bad, but pride dictates that you don’t want them – or the world – to think they’re doing better without you.

But Jimmy Butler is, despite the 112-86 shellacking the Miami Heat gave his Golden State Warriors Tuesday night. Butler is better off without his ex-team.

“I see it for what it is,” Butler said of his South Florida return, which was circled on his calendar not as a revenge game, but as his opportunity to spend time with his two children. “A chapter that has ended.”

That might be cold to hear, but it’s the truth.

Butler’s in a better place. Golden State might be an aging dynasty, but they’re still an NBA franchise that moves the needle, unlike the Heat (31-41).

The Warriors (41-31) know how to win, and have proven that recently, winning 16 of 20 games they’ve played with Butler.

The Warriors view Butler as a finishing piece, which is why they sought to acquire him for months, and eventually got the Heat to pull the trigger on the trade that produced Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Davion Mitchell and a top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick for the Heat.

Butler has a legit chance to win a championship with Golden State, which is jockeying for No. 4 seed, and the first-round home games that come with it. Especially once a healthy Steph Curry returns from his pelvic contusion on Friday, which is the plan.

“We are living. We are in the fight and we have 10 games to go. Friday is the biggest game of the year,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, referring to Friday night’s road game against the New Orleans Pelicans. “It’s time.”

Kerr’s referring to shifting from regular season mode to playoff mode.

In Miami, a Butler-led Heat team was playing to be part of the play-in tournament, and nothing has changed since his departure, especially after Miami’s 10-game losing skid.

The Heat are barely holding onto its play-in position, sitting as the 10th seed, which requires two road wins to earn the right to play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round as the eighth seed.

Miami would need a miracle to make it out of the first round.

Back in 2020 and 2023 – back when the Heat made it to the NBA Finals – that miracle was Playoff Jimmy.

Golden State hopes Butler can find that killer instinct one more time, and it’s possible he can despite Tuesday night’s relatively quiet, and somewhat uninspired performance, which featured a 1-for-6 shooting night in the first half, and concluded with 11 points, six rebounds and two assists.

The fourth quarter blowout kept Butler on the bench for the game’s closing minutes, and when the action had concluded he greeted what appeared to be two friends sitting courtside, and then left for the locker room without greeting his former teammates and coaches.

Butler was expected to bust Miami’s backside, but he played a sedated game on the court as fans showered him booing every time he touched the basketball.

The less than a minute long tribute video the Heat played before the game also featured booing from the sprinkling of South Floridians that actually showed up before tip-off.

“I got a lot of love for this city. The video was nice. But I wouldn’t say there were a lot of emotions though,” Butler said.

“It took me back to some good times when I was in a Miami Heat jersey. I am very appreciative of those times. It helped me become the player I am in this league, and the individual I am in this league,” Butler continued. “The teammate, the leader. I don’t think I could be all those things without my opportunity here.”

Despite the loss, it’s clear Butler upgraded, and he also got the two-year, $111 million contract extension that was at the center of his dispute with Heat ownership and management.

Money and respect were at the root of Butler’s pettiness, Pat Riley’s stubbornness, and the suspensions that capped the end of a five-year partnership.

Now that this uncomfortable reunion is over, Butler intends to shift his attention to the bigger picture, pushing to have champion attached to his NBA resume.

“We need every win that we can get right now for this playoff push we’re making,” Butler said shortly after taking a couple sips from his Michelob Ultra beer. “We came up short tonight. We’ll be OK. We will. We’ll put this one behind us.”

The Heat should focus on doing the same with Butler.