What made Jimmy Butler such an appealing trade target for the Golden State Warriors was that he has a stellar track record of excellent playoff production, and he's not afraid of doing the dirty work and the complementary duties that were necessary to complement the Dubs' Stephen Curry-led squad.

But with Curry nursing a hamstring injury during the Dubs' second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Butler will have a lot on his plate as he attempts to lead another undertalented team and have them punch above their weight class.

For the Warriors to keep in step with the Timberwolves despite being undermanned, Butler will have to channel his playoff persona, “Playoff Jimmy.”

Some of Playoff Jimmy's greatest moments, just to name a few, was when he put up 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists in Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals to keep the Miami Heat alive and when he scored 56 in Game 4 of the Heat's first-round matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023.

With Curry out, Butler will have to be much better than he was in their 117-93 Game 2 loss to the Timberwolves when he scored just 17 points and took just 13 shots. But the 35-year-old star made it clear that he's not going to be forcing anything.

“I don't have a burden or expectation; I don't; I play basketball the right way; I will continue playing basketball the right way. When the time comes where, your people that are saying [that] I'm supposed to score 40 or 43, whatever the case may be, I'm capable of it, I can do it.

“But I love making sure my guys are comfortable, passing the ball to them, taking the right shots at the right time,” Butler said in his postgame presser via the official ClutchPoints account on X, formerly Twitter.

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Jimmy Butler will have to be more aggressive in leading Warriors' offense

Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III looks tired
© Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Jimmy Butler ended up taking just 13 shots in Game 2, and quite frankly, that's not going to cut it. The Warriors are better off having him take more shots amid Stephen Curry's absence instead of having players who are ice cold, such as Moses Moody, take away some shots from him.

It's not quite clear if Butler will be waking up his more aggressive scoring persona. But he's not ruling anything out either, as well.

“But we'll talk about. If that may be needed, who knows?” Butler said.

The Warriors will look to take back the lead in the series on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. EDT when Game 3 tips off at Chase Center.