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Ohm Youngmisuk
HOUSTON — Warriors star Jimmy Butler took a hard fall late in the first quarter and suffered a pelvis contusion that forced him out of Game 2 against the Rockets on Wednesday.
Butler is scheduled to undergo an MRI in San Francisco on Thursday.
Losing Butler after eight minutes was a crushing blow to the Warriors, who lost 109-94 as Houston evened the series at 1-1.
“Obviously feel terrible for Jimmy,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Hopefully he’s OK. We’ll see.”
Butler will have two days off before the Warriors and Rockets play Game 3 at Chase Center on Saturday night. Kerr was asked whether Jonathan Kuminga could be an option to start if Butler can’t play. Kuminga had fallen out of the rotation at the end of the regular season but played 26 minutes and finished with 11 points in the Game 2 loss.
“I mean, if Jimmy’s out, we have to rethink everything,” Kerr said. “Like rotations, who starts and the best combinations and all that stuff.”
With 2:28 left in the first quarter, Butler went up high to grab a defensive rebound off Amen Thompson‘s missed shot, and Thompson flew into him and undercut him. Butler came crashing down on his tailbone area and immediately looked to be in pain. Thompson, who was jostling with Draymond Green for rebounding position before colliding with Butler, was down for a short moment before getting up.
Butler remained in the game briefly, making one of two free throws, but called to come out with 1:51 left and the Warriors down 24-16. He clearly was struggling to move.
He moved gingerly as he went to the locker room. The Warriors ruled Butler out for the game in the second quarter.
Green said he spoke to Butler after the game and that his teammate told him he will be good.
“Jimmy’s only going to tell you he feels good,” Green said. “We’ll see. He’s given me zero reasons to not believe anything he says, so I do believe him.”
If Butler does have to miss any further time, that would be devastating for Golden State. Entering Game 2, the Warriors were 25-8 (including regular-season, play-in and postseason games) since Butler made his debut with the team Feb. 8 in Chicago.
He has turned the Warriors’ season around, rejuvenating Stephen Curry. Butler has helped take the scoring load off Curry while stabilizing the critical non-Curry minutes for Kerr. Butler also has helped Green lift Golden State’s defense to first in the NBA since his Warriors debut.
And he lifted his own game a notch to “Playoff Jimmy” form since the regular-season finale, when he had 30 points and nine assists in an overtime loss to the LA Clippers. He followed that up with 38 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a play-in win over the Memphis Grizzlies. And on Sunday, Butler poured in 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals to help Golden State grab Game 1 on the road.
“I’ve had that happen a couple of times,” said Curry, who has taken hard falls on his tailbone and suffered hairline fracture and deep contusion injuries in the past. “And you know exactly what it is. It’s just a matter of how bad it was, and I don’t know [the severity of Butler’s injury], but it definitely changed the dynamic of our offense.”
Warriors starting guard Brandin Podziemski also was limited to 14 minutes because of illness. Kerr said Podziemski felt ill from something he ate and got an IV at halftime. Podziemski gutted out six minutes in the second half and was 0-for-5 for the game.
The Warriors return to San Francisco with home-court advantage for the series. But now they will wait to see the results of Butler’s MRI.
“Hopefully Jimmy will be able to play,” Kerr said. “But if not, then we’ve got to go through our options and put together a plan.”
