Steph Curry out, Jimmy Butler in pain as Thunder visits Warriors – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
SAN FRANCISCO – After sitting for about 20 minutes, Jimmy Butler III gets up from his chair, moving one limb at a time. His discomfort is obvious. When asked how he feels, he avoids jock talk and responds with typical frankness.
“You see how I walk,” he said with a sigh, his left hand resting on his left hip and as he carefully walked out of the room.
Three hours later, Butler’s name appeared Monday afternoon on the NBA injury report submitted by the Warriors ahead of their Tuesday game against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder at Chase Center.
Two days after landing hard on his back late in the Warriors’ 104-96 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Butler was listed as “questionable” with a left glute contusion. In simpler terms, a sore ass.
Add that to the first unwelcome blow to the Warriors last week. Stephen Curry suffered a bruised left quad last Wednesday and is expected to miss at least two more games, with the next being OKC on Tuesday.
And to think, the Warriors had hoped to use their five-game homestand to generate enough momentum to escape mediocrity. They split the first four games and now need to defeat the mighty Thunder (20-1 record) to earn a winnable home game.
And now Butler’s availability is in question. He is Golden State’s second-leading scorer, behind Curry, averaging 20.2 points per game. His role in the offense expands when Curry is unavailable. He was superb Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans, producing a team-high 24 points, a game-high 10 assists, grabbing eight rebounds and finishing a game-high plus-22 in 37 minutes.
“He didn’t practice today,” coach Steve Kerr said of Butler. “He feels like he can play [Tuesday]but he was quite sore from the spill he received.
The Warriors got through the first month of the season without significant injuries to their four veterans — Curry’s three-game absence due to illness was the worst of all — only to return home 10 days ago with every one of them distressed. In addition to Curry and Butler, Draymond Green (listed as “probable”) is attempting to play through a sprained right foot, and Al Horford (listed as “out”) is dealing with sciatic nerve irritation.
As much as we’d like to view Tuesday’s game as some sort of in-season examination of the Warriors’ status, it now feels more like a test of wills. OKC is missing three rotation players – Alex Caruso, Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein – but that has been the case for most of the season and it doesn’t matter.
When Curry took a knee against the Houston Rockets last week, he immediately knew he would miss time. The proof was in the expression on his face, one of deep disappointment and barely submerged fury. The Warriors had led most of the game but clung to an 89-88 lead in the final five minutes. He knew what that moment meant, so he tried to limp his way to the finish line.
Curry didn’t have much success and the Warriors were outscored 16-11 over the final 4:19.
Like Curry, Butler knows what this moment means. The Warriors haven’t had more than three games above .500 all season, and this home trip was an opportunity. Instead, it was a loss, a win, a loss and another win. Which has their record at 11-10.
Reinforcements are arriving. Seth Curry signed Monday and will be active Tuesday night. De’Anthony Melton should be available on the road trip that begins Thursday in Philadelphia. They will help eventually. Melton could find his way back into the starting lineup.
“We’ll see how long it takes, but we’re excited to have him back,” Kerr said of Melton. “He’s a two-way player, he’s really good fundamentally in terms of taking care of the ball and decision-making. I say it all the time, it’s a decision-making sport, and De’Anthony is a guy who makes really good decisions on both ends.”
But Golden State’s pursuit of a streak at the peak of its potential continues to be elusive. And that’s impossible when Curry is in street clothes.
Knowing this, Butler’s hunger to win could send him to the floor against the Thunder. If he shows up for the opening council at 8 p.m., he will surely be compromised.
I saw how he walked.
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