Jimmy Butler Talks Rivalry With TJ Warren As Heat Face Pacers In First Round

Jimmy Butler finally spoke about his rivalry with TJ Warren as the Miami Heat brace to face the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The All-Star forward stressed that his mind is focused solely on winning for the Heat as he insisted that the highly publicized rift is already “dead” even before the series begins.

"Look, I just play basketball," said Butler in a press call after the Heat’s practice on Sunday, according to ESPN.

"I'm going to go out there and be the best player on the floor. That's what Miami has me here to do. I'm not worried about nobody's matchup, man. We can kill that. That's dead, that's something that'll pass. Everybody wants to make a story out of it, but my job isn't against T.J. Warren, it's against the Indiana Pacers, and my job is to help the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers."

It is needless to say that the spat between Butler and Warren has been one of the most sought-after storylines inside the Orlando bubble, especially since the Pacers forward has started putting the league on notice by being Indiana’s best player for the seeding games.

In his first three games since the season restart, Warren looked like a man possessed for the Pacers as he racked up 53, 34 and 32 points, respectively, while shooting at a jaw-dropping 65.3 percent from the field that allowed him to earn a spot in the bubble’s All-Seeding Games First Team.

The tension between Butler and Warren stemmed during a play from the Heat’s visit to Indianapolis back in January when they had to be separated during a dead-ball situation. Butler, apparently not liking the hard foul he got as he was going to the basket, sparked a verbal altercation with Warren, whom he called “trash” as he was being restrained from the exchange.

But as he prepares to play his first playoff series with the Heat, Butler reiterated that he wants to bury the personal feud behind and just lead the team in its bid to make a deep postseason run.

"Now's the time to play your best basketball," Butler said. "To do whatever it takes to make sure that your team can win. I know that myself, I know that my teammates, the coaches, this organization, know that I'm capable of making that, so now it's just me going out there and doing just that and helping this team win some games.

"It's going to be a dogfight. But I think we got some dogs."

Game One of the best-of-seven series starts Tuesday at the Advent Health Arena inside Disney World in Florida.