Jimmy Butler gets off to a good start with Warriors by scoring 25 points against Bulls in his debut

CHICAGO (AP) — Jimmy Butler drew the familiar “oohs” and “aahs” from the Chicago crowd when he cut backdoor for an alley-oop dunk in the opening minute.

He had enough left to take over during Golden State's decisive run with Stephen Curry on the sideline. If his debut with the Warriors is a sign of things to come, they sure will welcome it.

Butler had 25 points and four assists in his first game since a trade-deadline deal from Miami following a messy split with the Heat, helping the Warriors beat the Bulls 132-111 on Saturday night.

“He's a lion out there,” coach Steve Kerr said.

It was an emotional night for Butler.

The six-time All-Star's first game with his new team came exactly one year after the death of his father. He wore “Butler III” on the back of his jersey as a tribute to his dad and will continue to go by that “forever and ever.”

Butler's first game with the Warriors came in the city where he spent his first six seasons. On top of all that, he hadn't played since Jan. 2. The Heat suspended him three times last month, and he said he lost his joy for the game.

“I knew I was going somewhere, whether they were sending me to Flamengo down in Brazil,” he said, referring to the team in Brazil's premier league that he has said he will join after his NBA career. “But I'm glad that it is here. I am grateful to be able to play basketball for a top organization like this one."

Now, Butler gets a fresh start. In some ways, so do the Warriors.

Butler is looking for his first championship after leading Miami to two NBA Finals in six seasons. Golden State is trying to capture another one to go with the four titles it already has with Kerr, Curry and Draymond Green. The Warriors were 10th in the Western Conference at 26-26 following the win over Chicago.

“We need each other,” Kerr said.

The Warriors paid a big price for Butler, sending Andrew Wiggins to Miami as part of the five-team trade and signing their new star to a two-year, $113 million contract extension. But they see it as a worthwhile investment.

After all, Butler is one of the NBA's best two-way players, someone willing to do whatever is needed to win on a given night. In that sense, they see him as a perfect complement to Curry.

“They say opposites attract in a lot of ways in life,” Butler said. “I don't think I could be a better complement to him and vice versa. They're not leaving him ever. Probably two people would never leave him. There's so much space for everybody else. I get the easy job. I'm playing one-on-one or in so much space."

Before things turned sour with the Heat, Butler had plenty of big moments. He's Miami's regular-season leader with 13 triple-doubles and is eighth on the team’s lists of points, rebounds and assists. “Playoff Jimmy” was at his best when the games mattered most, ranking third on the Heat’s postseason scoring list and second behind only LeBron James in playoff points per game for Miami.

“Timing is everything in this league,” Kerr said. “I think we're getting Jimmy at the right time. His time in Miami expired. It ran out. You could feel it. They felt it, he felt it, so we're getting him at a time that's probably healthy for us and healthy for Jimmy.”

Butler hasn't practiced with the Warriors. He didn't participate in the morning shootaround, either, because some of the players involved in the trade had not passed their physicals.

Butler and the Warriors will need time to get used to each other. Kerr kept things simple for their first game together, giving him about three plays, but he showed his usual explosiveness, even if he was exhausted.

Butler had enough left to take over during a decisive 16-1 run that started late in the third. He scored the first seven points in the fourth, starting with a three-point play off an alley-oop dunk, with Curry on the sideline.

“The game is very, very simple here, and they make it so easy for me,” Butler said.

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Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, arrives before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, arrives before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler, left, and guard Stephen Curry, right, warm up before an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler hangs from the rim after dunking during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, left, pats Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) on the back during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) and guard Stephen Curry (30) shake hands after an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) goes up to shoot during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Chicago Bulls guard Coby White, left, guards against Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler (10) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Palestinian medics said Israeli strikes killed at least 23 people in the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday.

The dead include three children and their parents, who were killed in a strike on their tent near the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital, which has received a flood of dead and wounded since Israel resumed heavy bombardment of Gaza last week, shattering the ceasefire that had halted the 17-month war.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 113,000, according to the Health Ministry, which does not say how many were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel launched the campaign vowing to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because it operates in densely populated areas.

Here's the latest:

One of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary “ No Other Land ” was still missing on Tuesday after being beaten by Jewish settlers and detained by the Israeli military.

Attorney Lea Tsemel told The Associated Press she had no information on filmmaker Hamdan Ballal’s whereabouts early Tuesday, around 12 hours after witnesses said he was attacked and detained.

Ballal was one of three Palestinians detained in the village of Susiya late Monday, according to Tsemel, who is representing them. Police told her they’re being held at a military base for medical treatment, and she said she hasn’t been able to speak with them.

Basel Adra, another co-director, witnessed the detention and said around two dozen settlers — some masked, some carrying guns, some in Israeli uniform — attacked the village. Soldiers who arrived pointed their guns at the Palestinians, while settlers continued throwing stones.

The Israeli military said it detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at forces and one Israeli civilian involved in a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians — a claim witnesses interviewed by the AP disputed.

The military said it had transferred them to Israeli police for questioning and had evacuated an Israeli citizen from the area to receive medical treatment.

Palestinian medics say Israeli strikes killed at least 23 people in the Gaza Strip overnight into Tuesday.

Nasser Hospital said it received four additional bodies from two other strikes in addition to the family of five.

In central Gaza, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in three separate strikes. Three others were killed in a strike on a house in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Awda Hospital.

In Gaza City, an Israeli strike on a residential building killed 5 people, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service. Another 12 people were wounded, it said.

Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of the Field Hospitals Department in Gaza, surveys the destruction inside the surgical building of Nasser Hospital, a day after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Amani Abu Aker holds the body of her two-year-old niece Salma, killed during an Israeli army strike, before their burial at the Baptist hospital in Gaza City, Monday March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians carry the body of Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas' political bureau who was killed in an Israeli army strike on Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Dr. Marwan al-Hams, director of the Field Hospitals Department in Gaza, surveys the destruction inside the surgical building of Nasser Hospital, a day after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)