The Golden State Warriors are getting Jimmy Butler back on Monday. The forward took a hard fall in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Houston Rockets and suffered a pelvic contusion. The Warriors lost that game, but bounced back with a 104-93 win in Game 3 on Saturday despite Butler’s absence.
They enter Game 4 with a 2-1 lead in the series and will have Butler back on the court and in the starting lineup when they do so, the team announced.
Leading up to Game 4, Butler was listed as questionable. Steve Kerr told reporters pregame, “We’re hopeful that he’ll play, but he’s gotta warm up first.” He added that Butler won’t be on a minutes restriction.
Butler played 42 minutes in Game 1, 40 minutes in the Warriors’ play-in win against the Memphis Grizzlies and 48 minutes in their overtime loss against the Los Angeles Clippers on the final day of the regular season. At practice on Sunday, Kerr told reporters that he’d asked Warriors director of sports medicine Rick Celebrini if Butler would be able to handle big minutes coming off the injury, and Celebrini “really wasn’t sure, he just said it’s going to depend on how he’s feeling once he’s out there.”
Butler’s presence will make things a lot simpler for Golden State, especially on the offensive end. After the play-in game, Kerr told reporters that Butler had “completely changed everything for us” since arriving at the trade deadline.
“We’ve got the movement and the flow of Steph [Curry],” he said, “but we’ve also become, for half the game, a great iso team.”
If he can’t play 40-plus minutes, though, then the coaching staff will have decisions to make regarding the rotation. Is it safe to assume that Jonathan Kuminga will be removed from the rotation again? Will Game 3 starter Quinten Post play major minutes?
Kerr is going with starting unit he used in the first two games because it worked so well during the regular season. Post helped Golden State’s rim protection and rebounding in Game 3, though, so don’t be surprised if he’s on the floor in important moments. And if Butler is limited — or his playing time is — then the Warriors will have to adjust again.
“Every game is different, and we have to read the game,” Kerr said pregame. “Gary [Payton II] was working [in the fourth quarter of Game 3]. Getting him the ball in the pocket against their blitz was very effective. I imagine they’ll have a counter to that tonight, so that may necessitate a different tactic, different lineup. We have to read it.”
