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).
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:
If he’s good to go, this is going to be a game to watch.
