The Golden State Warriors got some encouraging news on Jimmy Butler from someone who should know — Stephen Curry — as their Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets shifts to San Francisco for Game 3 on Saturday night.
Butler suffered what has been labeled a “deep glute muscle contusion” when knocked on his backside while pursuing a rebound in the 10th minute of Wednesday’s 109-94 loss to the Rockets in Houston. He left Game 2 at that point and did not return as the Rockets knotted the best-of-seven series, 1-1.
Butler, whose addition to a staggering team in February helped turn the Warriors’ season around, likely will be a game-time decision for Game 3, and perhaps moving forward.
Curry had a similar injury in March, causing him to miss two games. The Warriors lost them both — at Atlanta and at Miami.
Upon hearing Butler’s x-rays showed no broken bones, Curry indicated there’s no guarantee his sidekick will miss any time.
“The last one I had was just a contusion and that is just a pain-tolerance thing,” he noted. “You could play through that eventually.”
Counting their 95-85 win in the series opener Sunday at Houston, the Warriors had gone 24-7 with Butler in the lineup before Wednesday’s mishap. The former Miami Heat standout contributed 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in Sunday’s Game 1 win.
Jonathan Kuminga, who had been a healthy DNP the previous two games, was called upon to play 26 minutes in Butler’s absence. He had 11 points on 4-for-12 shooting.
Without Butler, the Warriors not only regressed into their previous 3-point-happy offensive selves, they slipped defensively.
With Jalen Green bombing in eight 3-pointers in 18 attempts, the Rockets improved from 20.7 percent from deep in the opener to 37.5 percent in Game 2. They scored 45 points from beyond the arc in the Game 2 win after just 18 in the Game 1 loss.
Experiencing his first two NBA playoff games, Green credited his own personal growth — rather than Butler’s absence — for his improvement from 0-for-4 to 8-for-18 on 3-pointers.
“That first game, the lights were bright, the crowd was here, the court looked huge. So I couldn’t really get a chance to settle in; my legs were a little shaky,” Green said. “I feel like I did a good job of answering back (in Game 2).”
Meanwhile, missing their hard-driving, fouls-drawing force, the Warriors attempted 11 more 3-pointers in the rematch (43) than in Game 1 (32), helping produce a sharp decline in overall shooting percentage (47.4 percent to 41.3 percent).
Butler or no Butler, Green said the Warriors saw a different defensive team in Game 2.
“Be aggressive, pressure the ball,” he said of the Rockets’ game plan. “All the coaches were telling us that they were a little too comfortable the first game and able to execute their plays and stuff, so just wanted to give them a little more pressure.”
Game 4 is scheduled for Monday in San Francisco.
