Golden State Warriors star Jimmy Butler had a frightening moment in Wednesday’s Game 2 against the Houston Rockets when he collided with Amen Thompson and crashed to the floor while going for a rebound.
Butler was taken to the locker room and ruled out with a pelvis contusion and the Warriors struggled in his absence, losing 109-94 as the Rockets tied up the series.
While the full extent of Butler’s injury is not yet known, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr revealed that the star forward was optimistic about the outlook.
“Jimmy always says he’s going to be fine, but we have to wait and see with the MRI,” Kerr told reporters after the game.
Kerr said he didn’t have to fully assess Butler’s injury during the game, saying he had to immediately focus on how to change substitution patterns to make up for the loss of a star player.
Amen Thompson just took Jimmy Butler OUT pic.twitter.com/6Ao3SpKwsd
The Warriors coach still had not seen the replay after the game, but said the team’s staff reviewed the video and believed Thompson did not intentionally try to injure Butler.
“They just said it looked like there was some physicality on the rebound and I think Thompson just inadvertently found himself underneath Jimmy just based on the tug of war that was going on there,” Kerr said. “We didn’t think there was anything wrong with the play, it was just one of those plays.”