Jimmy Butler III’s return trip to Miami was less a revenge game than another stain on the Warriors’ suddenly spiraling season.

Golden State trailed from the start, never got close enough to touch the Miami Heat and wound up on the business end of a 112-86 walloping that delivered all manner of ominous signals.

This loss, the Warriors’ second in a row following a 124-115 beating by the Atlanta Hawks, continues their sudden return trip toward mediocrity. They’ve lost three of their last five games, and this one was a profoundly unsatisfying conclusion to a game that came with tangled emotions.

Four Warriors scored in double figures, led by Jonathan Kuminga’s 15 points, but they were routed in every conceivable way.

Here are three observations from a nightmare on South Beach:

Butler vs. Wiggins

Two names were on the marquee at tipoff: Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins. They were traded for each other last month, and each was going to be a significant contributor to whatever happened on the court.

There wasn’t much of a battle, but Wiggins was superior. And his team won the war decisively.

The former Golden State NBA All-Star finished with 10 points (4 of 13 from the field, 2 of 4 from beyond the arc), five rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals. He played 28 minutes and finished plus-2.

Wiggs picking up where he left off 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iKUwoyo0LX

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1904686081741648198?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Butler, who claimed this would be “just another game” on the schedule, coped with a mixture of cheers and boos throughout. He finished with 11 points (5 of 12 from the field, 0 of 2 from deep), seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. He was minus-19 over 29 minutes.

Jimmy went to work on this and-1 🪣 pic.twitter.com/OWUv8uvNm1

https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors/status/1904704016984268955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Weakened Offense Expected, But Defense Also Putrid

Stephen Curry’s absence always compromises Golden State’s offense – and surely it did – but what is the excuse for the defense?

After consecutive games with porous defense, the Warriors realized they needed to upgrade their intensity. They were unable to do it.

The Heat cooked them in the first quarter, fired up a blowtorch in the second quarter and built 57-40 lead off 53.8-percent shooting from the field, including a preposterous 72.7 percent beyond the arc. Starting guards Tyler Herro and Alec Burks combined for 23 points on 8 of 10 shooting, including 5 of 6 from distance.

Miami shot 55.8 percent from the field, including 68 percent from distance.

Golden State in its two previous games allowed the Hawks to shoot 57 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent from deep, and the Toronto Raptors to post 56.4/42.3 percent splits.

Shoddy defense suddenly is becoming the biggest threat to the Warriors’ hopes of staying above the NBA play-in tournament fray.

Bench Came To Play

The only encouraging sign for Golden State came from the play of its bench.

With Buddy Hield, Gui Santos and Kuminga leading the way, the Warriors’ reserves punished those of the Heat, outscoring them 30-2 in the first half and 48-24 for the game. Hield scored 10 points and Santos had 13 on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3 of 6 beyond the arc. Santos and Gary Payton II (four points, 2 of 2 shooting) were the only two Warriors to shoot at least 50 percent.

How bad was the overall bench discrepancy? Golden State’s bench outscored its starters 30-10 in the first half and 48-38 for the game.

This was, for the starters, one of the lousiest performances of the 2024-25 NBA season.

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