All the Golden State Warriors could do after their series-opening victory over the Houston Rockets was say how great Jimmy Butler is when he becomes Playoff Jimmy. All anyone could talk about was how genius a decision it was to pair him with Stephen Curry and let them take turns running the offense in crunch time. After Wednesday night’s Game 2 loss, the main topic is when or even if Butler can return to the team after suffering a pelvis contusion late in the first quarter.
Butler’s status is very much up in the air as he’ll undergo an MRI Thursday back in the Bay Area. Warriors coach Steve Kerr did not sound that optimistic about things.
“Obviously feel terrible for Jimmy,” he said. “Hopefully he’s OK. We’ll see.”
Kerr also conceded that not having Butler will dramatically alter the plan. The entire plan.
“I mean, if Jimmy’s out, we have to rethink everything,” he said. “Like rotations, who starts and the best combinations and all that stuff.”
For evidence of this, look no further than Jonathan Kuminga playing 26 minutes in the defeat. That’s something few people had on their Bingo card as the big man has been sidelined largely by Kerr’s choice for quite some time. Without Butler, he may be asked to become a key cog in the Warriors’ gameplan. So that MRI? A lot is riding on it.
If there’s a bright spot for Golden State it’s that there are two off days before Game 3 of the series on Saturday night. Plus Butler will be doing everything that’s in his power to be on the court given his mindset and time of the year.
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