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Golden State Warriors star forward Jimmy Butler suffered a deep glute muscle contusion in the team's first-round series against the Houston Rockets and ended up missing one game. While Butler has played in six straight games since suffering this injury, he has struggled at times and hasn't looked 100 percent healthy.
Now that Stephen Curry is out with a hamstring injury, Golden State needs Butler at his best the rest of the way in their Western Conference Semifinals series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Warriors lost 117-93 on Thursday night in their first game without Curry as Butler scored just 17 points on 13 shot attempts. The 35-year-old was not seeking contact on offense like he normally does, and he was playing a lot more passive than many initially expected heading into this game.
In his postgame press conference, Butler revealed that he is still dealing with some lingering effects of the injury he suffered just over two weeks ago.
“I feel pretty good,” Butler stated, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “We get to take a flight back and sleep in our own beds.”
Butler was then asked if he is still feeling the effects from the fall in the Rockets series, to which he gave his two-word answer: “For sure.”
“Believe it or not, Dominoes, coffee, and kids make it all better.”
Since suffering his pelvic/gluteal injury against the Rockets, Butler has averaged 19.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 42.4 percent from the floor in six games. While these are great numbers, Butler knows he will need to continue to elevate his play so long as Curry remains out with his hamstring injury.
The Warriors' offense takes a major hit when Curry isn't on the floor, and that was evident at the start of Game 2 in Minneapolis on Thursday night.
Although Buddy Hield and Draymond Green scored 42 combined points in the team's 99-88 Game 1 win against the Timberwolves, Golden State struggled to find their offensive rhythm early on in the second game of this series. After scoring just 39 first-half points, the Warriors trailed by 17 points heading into halftime.
Butler and the Dubs did make a little bit of a push early in the third quarter, cutting the Wolves' lead to seven points halfway through the quarter, but they ultimately ran out of gas, and Minnesota ran away with this one.
The Curry-less Warriors now head home for two important games that will ultimately dictate which direction momentum shifts in this series. Even though Golden State did what they needed to by stealing Game 1 on the road and taking home-court advantage in the series, things could quickly change in favor of Minnesota should they take at least one game in Chase Center.
It is up to Butler and the rest of the Warriors' roster to elevate their play and defend home court in Game 3 to keep their positive mindset in this series. The Timberwolves and Warriors will meet in Game 3 on Saturday night in San Francisco.
