Things got heated in the Miami Heat huddle during a timeout in the second half of Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
The game was tied 50-50 at halftime, but the Warriors scored the first 19 points of the second half. During a timeout in that run, tempers boiled over on the Heat bench.
Miami star Jimmy Butler and longtime Heat stalwart Udonis Haslem had to be separated by teammates as they exchanged words. Haslem was heard repeatedly telling Butler “I’ll beat your ass,” in a video captured by a fan sitting courtside.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra also appeared to have strong words for Butler, even slamming down a clipboard at one point in an extended back-and-forth with his star player.
Despite the commotion, the Heat responded to the Warriors’ big run with a 19-6 run of their own and entered the fourth quarter trailing by only one point. The Warriors pulled out the win in the end, though, 118-104. Butler finished with 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting. Haslem, who has been on the Heat since 2003 and is the oldest player in the NBA at 41 years old, did not play.
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Heat players and Spoelstra downplayed the incident after the game.
“We have a very competitive, gnarly group and we were getting our asses kicked,” Spoelstra said. “It’s two straight games we’re not playing to the level that we wanted to play. I would say virtually every single person in that huddle was…
