Heat's Jimmy Butler, Udonis Haslem, Erik Spoelstra had to be physically separated following heated exchange

Nick Metallinos

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Heat's Jimmy Butler, Udonis Haslem, Erik Spoelstra had to be physically separated following heated exchange image

Not only did the Heat lose a home game to a depleted Warriors team, but they also had to deal with some turmoil among themselves as Jimmy Butler and Udonis Haslem had to be physically restrained during a timeout in the third quarter. 

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Miami found itself tied at 50 at the halftime break, but the Warriors - as they're known to do - blew the game open with a 19-0 run early in the third quarter. 

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout and that is when the fireworks started between the Heat players and staff. Heat lifer Haslem appeared to be gesticulating and jawing at Butler who was seated on the bench during the timeout. 

Even Spoelstra got animated and was saying something to Butler. He appeared to throw his clipboard at the floor in disgust. 

Here's another angle of the incident:

It's not known what caused both players to lose their cool, but they had to be separated by teammates with Bam Adebayo grabbing Haslem in a bear hug to prevent any acceleration of the situation. 

As expected the Heat brushed this off as in-the-moment competitiveness. 

Veteran PJ Tucker also downplayed the severity of the incident.

"I laughed. I walked off the court laughing. Let's play," he said.  

Nick Metallinos

Nick Metallinos Photo

Nick has been working exclusively within the NBA world for over a decade. He hosted 46 episodes of Ball or Nothin' - a show screened on ESPN highlighting the social media aspects of the NBA. Nick has covered 3 NBA Finals, 5 NBA All-Star weekends, 8 NBA drafts, 5 Jordan Brand Classics plus dozens of playoff games and hundreds of regular season games. 
Nick spends his spare time trying to decide which sneakers best match his outfit.