As the Golden State Warriors await the result of Jimmy Butler‘s MRI, an orthopedic doctor provided optimism that the 35-year-old forward will not miss a significant amount of time.
Butler was ruled out after he landed awkwardly on his back in a scary fall with 1:51 left in the first quarter of their Game 2 loss to the Houston Rockets, as Amen Thompson collided with him underneath the basket.
Dr. Nirav Pandya, a professor at the Orthopedic Surgery department of the University of California, San Francisco and director of sports medicine at Benioff Children’s Hospital, said Butler’s injury is similar to Stephen Curry‘s previous pelvic injury, which caused Curry to miss two games.
“As with the injury that Curry suffered, a pelvic contusion is essentially bruising or inflammation to the bones of the pelvis and/or soft tissues in that region. Assuming that further imaging does not actually show any fractures, return to play is typically based on when an athlete is able to play comfortably without pain. This can be variable based on the region that is contused in the pelvis and the degree of inflammation,” Pandya wrote on X.
Butler’s X-ray result came back negative, bringing more hope that he could return soon.
“Usually [MRI] is just being extra cautious, especially if the X-ray is negative,” Dr. Pandya wrote on X.
Butler left the game with only three points in eight minutes after producing 25 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals in 42 minutes in Game 1. But he was able to walk under his power, although extremely gingerly going back to the locker room for X-ray.
‘Zero Reasons Not to Believe’ Jimmy Butler
Compared to Curry, Butler appears to be stronger and conditioned to withstand such injury.
“Jimmy always says he’s going to be fine, but we have to wait to see the MRI [result],” Golden State coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the Game 2 loss.
Butler’s frontcourt partner Draymond Green believes Butler will be fine.
“He’s given me zero reasons not to believe anything he says, so I do believe him,” Green said of Butler.
The Warriors hope the two-day rest in between Games 2 and 3 will be enough for Butler to recover.
“Hopefully Jimmy will be able to play,” Kerr said. “But if not, we have to go through our options and put together a plan.”
Jonathan Kuminga Stays Ready
Filling in for Butler, Jonathan Kuminga was inserted back into the rotation. But after not playing the last three games, Kuminga was rusty. The 22-year-old forward shot a measly 4-of-12 from the field to finish with 11 points in 26 minutes.
“It wasn’t all great,” Kuminga bluntly told reporters when asked to assess his comeback game. “I feel like I could have done better. I’m just trying to figure out where to be, what to do, how can I play — just things like that. We did not end up winning, but so far I feel like I just went out and played hard.”
Kuminga said he will watch the tape to see where he can improve as he stays ready, if Butler has to sit out Game 3 pending the result of his MRI.
Kuminga averaged 21.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in four games against the Rockets in the regular season. It’s Kuminga’s second-highest scoring average against any single opponent this season.
Doctor Provides Timeline for Warriors Star Jimmy Butler’s Return