The Golden State Warriors were already shorthanded versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, but beating the defending NBA champions is an even more grueling task without Jimmy Butler. The star wing suffered a knee injury midway through the second quarter of Tuesday night’s Western Conference clash and exited to the locker room. He was ultimately ruled out for the remainder of the contest, per the Warriors on NBC Sports X account.
Butler finished the game with six points on 2-of-6 shooting. The Dubs were forced to battle a juggernaut sans their top two players, as Stephen Curry remains sidelined with a quadriceps injury. If that was not enough adversity, defensive stalwart and valuable facilitator Draymond Green picked up his fifth foul in the third quarter.
Golden State (11-11) fought valiantly and held a lead in the fourth, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and OKC (21-1) came on strong late to secure a 124-112 road victory.
Jimmy Butler is not on the court or the Warriors’ bench to start the 2nd half.
This is the play he showed discomfort in the 2nd quarter.pic.twitter.com/KYjxGyWAlk
https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1996091988580684206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“If the Warriors are healthy, the rest of the league better watch out.” Fans have heard the media spout that argument for a couple of years now. It is a reasonable one to make, to be clear, but injuries continue to halt Golden State’s momentum. Curry is 37, Butler is 36 and Green is 35. The Warriors are heavily reliant on this aging core, but keeping those three on the court together for an extended period of time is proving to be a fierce challenge.
Naturally, these issues contribute to inconsistent play, which in turn forces the Dubs into a hole they have to climb out of during the second half of the season. It is difficult for an older team to expend considerable energy just to make the playoffs, but there may be no end to this unfortunate cycle.
Golden State counts on Butler to ease Curry’s offensive workload when necessary. Right now, however, he is tasked with carrying a significant burden himself. Ideally, the 2023 All-NBA Second-Team selection will be good to go later this week following this early exit.
Jimmy Butler was averaging 20.2 points on 52.7 percent shooting with 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals entering this showdown with the Thunder. The Warriors can grow from this resilient effort versus the champs, as they get set for a three-game road trip.
