The Warriors' upset win over the Heat in Miami on Wednesday took a backseat to a brouhaha that occurred on the Heat bench between Jimmy Butler and coach Erik Spoelstra.
As the Warriors were going on a 19-0 third-quarter run, Spoelstra called timeout after a weak closeout on defense. An argument ensued which included a thrown clipboard and Udonis Haslem being held back by teammates while gesturing at Butler.
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Warriors head coach Steve Kerr saw the incident coming out of the timeout and wasn't surprised that tensions boiled over. Kerr knows better than most how heated things can get during the grind of an NBA season.
"It's not shocking," Kerr told 95.7 The Game's "Damon & Ratto" on Thursday. "This kind of stuff happens. It's happened to us and our team. It's happened to plenty of teams. This is such a competitive league, and everyone who is in it -- coaches, players -- we're here because we're competitors. Sometimes things spill over the top and sometimes you need that. I think Erik even said that after the game that this can be something that helps galvanize them. I believe that too and that may be the case for them."
As it relates to the Warriors, the altercation between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green is a prime example of tensions boiling over for a championship-caliber team. Much has been of that altercation's impact on Durant's decision to leave Golden State, but Spoelstra doesn't see his confrontation with Butler harming the Heat long-term.
"It won't," Spoelstra said. "We have bigger things to accomplish but we do want to play better and everything has to be better across the board. It starts with our leadership, our veteran players have to lead. And then we just have to play better, play better to our identity, play more consistently and that's really all the discussion is worth. I know how it can probably look to the outside but as I've mentioned before, that is more our language than playing without passion, without toughness or without multiple effort and a lifelessness. Everything that happened in that huddle from there on after we cut the 19-point lead was way more to our personality."
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Miami is the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference but hasn't been playing up to expectations of late.
The recent lull coupled with a 19-0 Warriors run without Steph Curry, Draymond Green or Klay Thompson on the court set Butler and Spoelstra off.
"Everybody was wondering where the dinner plans were tonight after the game," Spoelstra said. "It was pretty clear. We have a very competitive, gnarly group and we were getting out asses kicked and it's two straight games we're not playing to the level we want to play. I'd say virtually every single person in that huddle was pretty animated about our disappointment in how we were playing."
All the #HeatCulture jokes wrote themselves Wednesday night, but Kerr knows that culture and sustained success is what makes an altercation like Spoelstra and Butler's not derail a title run.
"That culture that they have there is really based on competitiveness and physicality," Kerr said. "They have been so successful for such a long time and I love Spo. I think he's an amazing coach. He's one of the very best in the league. One of the things I love about him is his competitive fire, and the fact that that team has a set of values and standards and they stick to them. That's why they have been so successful."