Golden State Warriors’ Jimmy Butler returns to Florida to take on Orlando Magic in NBA game

ORLANDO – The Jimmy Butler two-show Florida reunion tour kicks off on Nov 18 night (Nov 19 morning, Singapore time) when the former Miami Heat standout takes centre stage as the Golden State Warriors visit the Orlando Magic.

Transferred early in February from the Heat to the Warriors, Butler joined Golden State in time for both their visits to Florida last season, which came on separate south-east 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 honours with seven.

Four of his assists came on Curry three-pointers as the all-time distance-shooting king buried 12 in all.

Butler himself inflicted pain on 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 2023.

He has 358 points, 93 assists and 43 steals in games at Orlando in his career.

Golden State visit Miami on Nov 19 on the second night of a back-to-back.

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 on Nov 16 at New Orleans, riding Moses Moody’s 32 points to a 124-106 win.

The Magic, meanwhile, have won three of their last four, seeing a winning streak come to an end in a 117-113 overtime loss at Houston on Nov 16.

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 has averaged 22.3 points over the last four games, connecting on multiple three-pointers in each of the last three.

Bane faced the Warriors 22 times during his days with Memphis, including in the 2022 play-offs, when he outshot Curry 48.5 per cent to 32.9 per cent on three-pointers in the Grizzlies’ 4-2 loss to the eventual champions in the Western semi-finals.

In other news, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama’s left calf strain is going to sideline him for a few weeks, ESPN reported on Nov 17.

The franchise centre underwent an MRI scan and was inactive on Nov 16, as his short-handed Spurs beat the visiting Sacramento Kings 123-110 to improve to 9-4.

The Spurs plan to act cautiously and will re-evaluate his condition in two to three weeks, according to ESPN.

“We’ve seen around this league recently (that) the calf-tightness thing is not something you want to take lightly,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said. “Don’t want to push it there.”

Meanwhile, on Nov 17, Jalen Duren returned from a two-game absence and dominated with 31 points and 15 rebounds, as hosts Detroit Pistons stretched their winning streak to 10 games with a 127-112 victory over the struggling Indiana Pacers.

Detroit’s streak is their longest since the 2007-08 season. The Pistons will look to make it 11 straight in Atlanta on Nov 18.

Elsewhere, defending champions the Oklahoma City Thunder improved to 14-1 for the season with a 126-109 victory on the road in New Orleans – thanks to 26 points from Chet Holmgren, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander chipped in with 23.

Donovan Mitchell collected 37 points and seven assists, and Sam Merrill scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 118-106.

Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo exited late in the second quarter with a left groin strain, finishing with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and four turnovers in 13 minutes. REUTERS, AFP