Inside The Heat

Jimmy Butler Among Four Players Ejected In Miami Heat's Victory Against Pelicans

Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler and Naji Marshall of the New Orleans Pelicans were involved in a scuffle

Shandel Richardson

Jimmy Butler Among Four Players Ejected In Miami Heat's Victory Against Pelicans
Jimmy Butler Among Four Players Ejected In Miami Heat's Victory Against Pelicans /
In this story:

The Miami Heat cruised to a 106-95 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans but not before tempers flared that led to ejections. 

Heat forward Jimmy Butler was among four players who were kicked out of the game in the fourth quarter. It started after Kevin Love fouled Pelicans forward Zion Williamson. Then Pelicans forward Naji Marshall got tangled up with Butler. It led to Marshall putting his hands on Butler's throat. 

The melee attracted other players, with Heat reserve Thomas Bryant, Marshall and Jose Alvarado also getting thrown out. 

“I don’t think I should have gotten thrown out of the game,” Butler said. Then (Marshall) came and put his hands on K-Love and that’s how it all escalated."

Butler finished with 23 points and nine rebounds. Heat center Bam Adebayo had a team-high 24 points. 

“It was just, I think, a misunderstanding of the play,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I think Zion slipped on the play when K-Love grabbed him and it looked a lot worse than what it was. And then everybody kind of overreacted.

Butler was pleased with how the Heat responded without him. It was their first game since the All-Star break. The Pelicans had won eight of nine. 

“Our team is so ready for anything that anybody’s thrown at us,” Butler said after the Heat won for the seventh time in nine games. “We’re so together, playing some incredible basketball. I don’t think it matters who we go up against right now. It’s that time of the year.”

Zion Williamson Should Be Motivated Vs. Heat After Stephen A. Smith Comments

Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat, a Fan Nation channel for Sports Illustrated. He has covered the NBA since 2010.

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

For any Heat or NBA questions, please email shandelrich@gmail.com

Published
Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

Home/News